1,000 Fathoms Below
by Raimar
Summary: (Bioshock-ish AU) After being rejected from police academy due to her species and failing as a private detective due to discrimination, Judy Hopps receives an invitation to a place where the small need not fear the great, where society is not controlled by the nonsensical whims of 'biological predisposition', a place where anyone can be anything. A place called... Zootopia
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Pretty much my first piece of writing in 5 years. I saw Zootopia, and instantly fell madly in love with it (and its fandom). During one of my perusals of the interwebs, I stumbled across a picture of Nick that made me think "Hey, he looks like he'd fit right in in Rapture in this! ...waaaaiit a minute..." And thus this story was born.**

 **As I said, it's been roughly 5 years since I last properly wrote, so please, if it feels too fast, too slow, too out of character, too (insert critique here), let me know, I'd appreciate the help.**

 **Admittedly, this chapter was kinda cut in half - it already felt like it was dragging on too long, just in case you're all wondering about the strange shift halfway down.**

 **I hope to update this thing on a weekly basis. I expect to update this thing on a monthly basis. I would not be surprised if I updated this thing on a yearly basis (very, very disappointed in myself, but not surprised. I'm the King of Procrastination! I'm making a throne and everything! I've been working on it since I graduated highschool! I have the sheet of paper ready to begin sketches for it and everything! Any day now!)**

 **And now, without further ado, let the story... Begin!**

* * *

Sailing on the ocean can be a calming experience.

If one were to be traveling on a top of the line cruise liner, one would have all the luxuries that they could find on land, and likely several more. Sun decks for basking in the warm glow of the bright summer sun, top chefs from around the world cooking up delicacies in state of the art kitchens, served in some of the finest restaurants that outrageous amounts money could buy, fantastical company from around the world dancing the evening away to the crooning of a top rate singer in front of a live, world class orchestra... Truly, ocean travel could be one of the greatest experiences any mammal could ask for.

None of this passed through Judy Hopp's mind as she desperately clutched at the ladder of the _Jackalope_ , the small sailing vessel she was on, struggling to keep her lunch down as the ship struggled to stay above water.

The last few steps of the ladder were a struggle, the ship bucking violently as it crested a particularly large swell, but Judy heaved a sigh as her feet finally touched down on the deck. Her paws' grip tightened on the ladders railing as the deck rolled underneath her, the vessel gaining speed as it cascaded down the face of the wave. As a sickening sense of losing gravity washed over her small frame, Judy's lunch desperately wanted to make a repeat appearance. Feeling her feet begin to leave their tenuous purchase on the deck, Judy clung to the railing, clamping her eyes shut as the trough of the wave quickly approached the bow of the ship. Faintly, she thought she heard one of the crew-members shout something, but the words were torn away from the bunny's ears by the fury of the storm.

Gravity regained it's hold on the tiny mammal as the ship hit the bottom of the trough, much to her relief. Said relief was short lived, however, as the bow of the ship plowed headlong into the oncoming storm, drenching what little parts of her had remained dry with a wall of icy salt-water, almost knocking her back down the open hatch. Judy sputtered as the vessel once more climbed the next wave, gasping from the shock of the cold, and immediately regretting it as she inhaled a lungful of the brine.

Judy was blinking in rapid succession, trying to clear the ocean water from her eyes, when she felt a pair of calloused paws grab her by her shoulders. One of the ships crewmembers, a wolf with thoroughly sodden salt-and-pepper fur, was glaring down at her with an expression mixed with anger, fear, and determination.

"Are you crazy, or just suicidal?" Even with Judy's powerful hearing, the wolf's rough voice was almost swallowed by the storm. "Get back below decks, and keep that hatch closed, or we'll all be at the bottom of the ocean a-" Whatever else the wolf had been about to say was cut off as the _Jackalope_ met another wave head on; the ensuing wave washed Judy back down the hatch, and swept the crewmember out of her sight.

Ignoring the slight wooziness from her head colliding with the lower deck, Judy bounded back up the ladder, desperately hoping against all hope that the wolf was safe. Casting her gaze across the deck, she heaved a sigh of relief – there was a couple of ropes running the entire length of the ship, set up when the storm had first been spotted, that the crew were clipped onto, attached at harnesses issued for just such an occasion. Had it not been for said harness, the wolf- and half of the crew- would undoubtedly have been cast overboard, but as it was, the worst he would likely suffer from would be a couple of uncomfortable bruises in the morning. Looking out to the front of the ship, Judy blanched – the giant waves that had been pounding the small sailing vessel for the past who-knows-how-long showed no signs of stopping. If anything, the storm was getting _worse_.

Without a second thought, Judy slammed the hatch above her shut, dropping back below decks to brace herself against the next tumultuous battering coming their way.

 _What did I do to be_ here _?!_

* * *

Growing up in a backwater town like BunnyBurrow, Judy Hopps had always dreamed of a different life. True, she had a loving, if overly large, family who she loved in return, fantastic friends whom she'd had since childhood, and a stable, guaranteed job working for her parents on their farm, a farm which she would undoubtedly inherit one day. All told, it was the foundations for a comfortable life.

The problem was, Judy Hopps didn't _want_ a comfortable life.

Looking around, she saw a great many wrongs in the world; despite their modern, 'evolved' culture, many animals still held to their prehistoric predator-versus-prey mentality. Prey species were inherently viewed as weak, meek, and inferior, even when the opposite was undeniably proven the true time and time again. Some predators seemed predisposed to act more violently around prey, using brute force and intimidation to get their way – as a result, the prey species held to the mantra that _all_ mammals of the predator species were out to take advantage of the little guys, and so viewed predators with distain, distrust, and fear.

"If living like that is a 'comfortable' life, then I want no part of it."

Even from early childhood, Judy had been a very vocal advocate for change. Seeking to be the change she wanted to see in the world, Judy worked her entire life to shake off the backwards views of those around her – she intended to prove to all that those labelled as 'prey' could hold positions of power and authority as capably as their 'predator' counterparts. The most visible and public way she could think to do this was to join the police – never before in history (as far as she could find), had there been a 'prey' police officer, let alone one seen as small and unintimidating as a bunny.

So, from as young an age as to still be in elementary school, Judy worked towards this goal, much to her parents' chagrin. She pushed herself in her studies, earning top grades and positions on the Honour Roll each year. Physically, she excelled in P.E., becoming the top runner in her schools many track and field events, as well as maintaining a high level of acrobatics through her gymnastics training outside of school. Extracurricular activities included Hall Monitor, Student Council, and Crossing Guard – even if she was far too young to join the police force just yet, she intended to set an example for her fellow students of how one should behave, and if they wouldn't learn from example, she'd use what little authority her positions granted her to _make_ them learn.

And so, it came as no surprise to anyone when, upon graduation, Judy was selected as valedictorian of her class. True, while her unconventional opinions, attitude and strong sense of justice hadn't earned her many friends, her eternally optimistic and helpful mindset had. What _did_ come as a surprise, to Judy at least, was her rejected application to the Police Academy. While officially the reason for her denied entry was stated as her having failed the physical requirements, it wasn't that far of a leap for Judy to read between the lines – she hadn't been accepted into the Police because she wasn't a predator.

Frustrated but undeterred, Judy was determined to provide justice and peace of mind to her fellow citizens, even if it had to be on a smaller scale. Managing to skirt the issues of her species, Judy enrolled in an online Private Investigators course, and passed with flying colours. She secured a position with a local agency, becoming a junior partner in 'R. Dunn & Associates Detective Agency' before the befuddled bobcat could fully grasp exactly _what_ position in his office she'd applied for.

Working under the scrutinizing eyes of her superiors, Judy excelled at the business for two years, despite the limitations put upon her, and the lack of challenging cases she'd been given. Nevertheless, having worked the required number of years under an established Investigator, and having saved up enough money, Judy Hopps was proud to officially declare that less than four years after graduating high school, she had opened her own detective agency.

Less than five years after having graduated high school, 'J. Hopps, P.I.' closed its doors for the final time.

It wasn't that she was a bad detective on her own – no, in fact, Judy was sure that, given the chance, she'd be able to prove herself more than equal to others in her field. The problem was that she _hadn't_ been given the chance, not really. When she first opened her practice, she'd felt a thrill every time the bell over her small office's door rang, as dozens of animals had come to see her. Not to hire her, as she'd quickly learned, just to see her, the upstart of a bunny who thought she could make it in a predator's world. After those first few weeks, the novelty had apparently worn off, and she was lucky if that tiny brass bell _ding_ -ed at least three times a day – once when she arrived at the office, once when she left, and once when a passerby popped their head in to ask for directions.

She had received a few proper clients, mammals too desperate for help to go on their own, yet too terrified of the larger predators of other agencies to go to them. The cases were sadly few and far between, and far from challenging – a stolen wallet (found a few days later in the client's _other_ jacket), a potentially adulterating husband (the only thing he'd been cheating on was his diet; the 'lipstick' on his collar turned out to be strawberry jam filling from doughnuts), and the unforgettable missing child (he'd climbed a tree and couldn't get down. Judy wasn't sure whether or not she could claim credit for solving that problem, or the fire department), just to list an entire month's worth of cases.

After a lack of funds had driven her to close her beloved office (she'd kept the bell), Judy had attempted to return to her position at R. Dunn, only to be informed that her old position had been filled during her absence.

"I truly am sorry that I can't take you back on, Julie," the pudgy bobcat had dramatically furrowed his brows, heaving a sigh as he looked at the ground, jowls swinging back and forth as he shook his head. "You were a valued asset, and I would like nothing more than to hire you back on. I would as quick as that!" Making a show of snapping his perfectly manicured claws just a few inches in front of her face, Robert barely concealed his disappointment when Judy failed to flinch. Turning his back in an attempt to hide his petulant pout, Robert surveyed the brick building facades or the buildings across the road before continuing, a slight, stifled snort easily audible to Judy's hearing. "But saladly, I can't. You're a tough kit, I'm sure something'll turnip soon enough. Lettuce not dwell on the past – can't let some bad luck beet us down." Judy could clearly see her old boss's smirk in the glass panel's reflection, undoubtedly thinking himself inordinately clever for the farming puns that she'd heard countless times since arriving at the city.

Judy passed by her empty old desk on the way out of the old office.

* * *

"The worst part is, he knows that I know, but there's nothing I can do about it!" Releasing a frustrated 'Argh!', Judy's head thumped against the table top. A small part of her mind recoiled at the thought of what might've been causing the bars tabletop to be ever so slightly sticky, but that part was drowned out by her annoyance and alcohol.

Nodding absentmindedly, the female bobcat seated across from her idly toyed with her glass of milk, rocking the glass about its bottom edge. "I know, my uncle can be a bit of a jerk at times, but what can you do?"

Looking at the two seated across from one another, a casual passerby would never have expected such an unlikely pair of drinking buddies, let alone in a low-lit jazz club like "The Catmandu". The room, with an air that would never be completely cigarette-smoke free, tables polished by the elbows of countless drinkers, worn down rugs, and the stage tucked away in the corner that was barely big enough for the five-piece band that was currently playing, spoke more for a clientele of shady deals hidden beneath a thin layer of propriety, or crotchety old goats reminiscing about the better days of their youth – not two girls sharing a drink after work.

In all reality, it wasn't the type of establishment that Judy would traditionally inhabit, and neither was she in the company of which she would normally keep. The reason behind her current local and company was that she hadn't wanted to spend her last night in the big city alone, and Katherine had been bored and wanted a drink; Catmandu's was known to stay open late, and have decently priced drinks.

With a groan, Judy raised her head, wincing as she felt the table's surface resist her attempts to leave. "That's just the thing – there's _nothing_ I can do, no matter how unethical it is!" Wearily looking at her drinking partner, Judy did her best to ignore the ermine looking at her, a couple tables away, undoubtedly shocked by her outburst. "It doesn't matter that I did well at my job, or that he _still_ has the position available, or anything! I'm not currently employed by him, so he has no legal obligations to hire me! And now I get to go back home tomorrow, a _failure_ , and what do I have to show for it? Nothing!" The small part of her mind cried out in protest as Judy's head once more fell to the table top.

Demurely lapping at her milk, the feline across from Judy sat silent for several seconds, before sighing. Setting down her glass, Katherine shrugged. "It's tough, but that's the world we live in."

"Then the world is wrong!" Bolting upright, Judy lurched across the table, grasping at the air. "Why should it matter what species I was born! Why _doesn't_ it matter that I work just as hard, and get better results!" The ermine, and several other of the late-night patrons, were now looking over at Judy, but she was beyond caring at this point. She wasn't likely to see any of them ever again, so what did it matter that they saw an overly emotional bunny tonight. Instead, her focus was on her companion, and her companion's lack of reaction.

Katherine Dunn, niece of Robert Dunn, had worked as a secretary in her uncle's office ever since she had graduated from high school, and for all intents and purposes, appeared to be content staying in the same office, in the same position, until the day she retired. Several drinks in as she was, if Judy squinted, she could see how Katherine could be seen as attractive. Well groomed, pure-bred, and with luxurious fur which couldn't have come naturally, Judy had no doubt in her mind that Katherine would one day find some tomcat accountant, be courted, get married, have a litter of kittens, and eventually retire further out from the city. Such life plans disturbed Judy – it didn't seem like it had any drive, any passion, any meaningful goal. What disturbed her more, however, was how resigned to it Katherine seemed.

At best, Judy would call Katherine an acquaintance from work. The only reason she was spending time with her tonight was because Katherine was really the only mammal she knew in the city; the only mammal that she could tolerate, at any rate.

Appearing more bored than shocked by her drinking companion's outburst, Katherine picked up her drink, bringing it to her mouth, lapping at it before speaking. "Hush, now, you're causing a scene." Ignoring Judy's mumbled 'What does it matter?', Katherine lapped at her milk for a couple of seconds before continuing. "Why it does or doesn't matter doesn't concern us – we can't change it, so why bother worrying? That's just the way the world is."

The female wolf server had time to come to collect the ermine's empty glass, take it to the bussing station, and return with his bill before Judy finally wrapped her mind around what her drinking companion had said enough to formulate a response. "Then I don't want to live in this world anymore!"

Standing up in her seat so that she'd be on even eye level with the lynx, Judy became strangely aware of her surroundings, as though she were looking at a photograph of it rather than living it; there was a boar, a goat, and a coyote arguing about something in the back corner, next to the stage where the small five-piece band was packing up for the evening. The ermine a couple of tables over was pulling out his wallet from his inner pocket, seemingly unaware that an envelope had tagged along with it for the ride, while the wolf server struggled to keep a smile on her face. At the bar was seated an arctic fox, looking forlornly off into space, being ignored by the bear of a bartender as he wiped down the counter adjacent to the fox. Finally, there was herself, the small bunny in the bar late at night surrounded mostly by larger predators, glaring at the lynx sitting across from her. It was a strange scene, to be sure, one she wasn't sure she'd have believed to not be part of some comedy had she not been living it.

Shaking her head to try and clear off the effects of the alcohol she'd consumed, Judy leveled her unsteady gaze at the lynx opposite her. "What's the point of doing anything, if you can't do what you want to? Why should I bother getting up in the morning if the only thing I can do is something I have no interest in? I just… It doesn't make sense! Who says that… that I can't be good at something? Why-"

"Listen, hun, you're a good person, alright?" Judy looked shocked as Katherine cut her off, as though physically hurt as her tirade was silenced mid thought. "Yes, you've done some good work, but you're not the best thing since sliced bread." Katherine finished her drink, seemingly ignoring the effect that her words were having on Judy. "There are a lot of people out there who aren't happy with the lot they've been given in life, but you know what? That's just too bad. As much as I'd love to see the world through your emerald glasses-" Katherine's tone made it abundantly clear to Judy that she couldn't care less about how the world could be "-it just isn't going to change anything. It's been this way since my grandfather's time, and it's going to be this way through to my grandson's. It's time you grew up and stopped smelling the roses." Pushing back from the table, Katherine stood tall over Judy, any trace of comradery gone from her face. "Thanks for the drinks, but I have better things to do than listen to some jumped-up bunny complain about her lot in life. Excuse me."

Not entirely sure if the apology was directed at her, or the ermine who Katherine had almost knocked over as she stalked away from the table, Judy had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't for her. Barely realizing that her former co-worker had left her to pay the entire bill, Judy stared off into space. _Am I really just some idealistic kit?_ She'd always believed that if she worked hard enough, she could change the world, even if only a little bit. _I can't be the only one who's thought this way…_

 _But if so_ , a dark little worming thought rose from the recesses of her mind, _why is the world the way it is?_

Before her thoughts could go down the dark path of the state of the world, something brought Judy back to her immediate surroundings – the envelope that the ermine's wallet had pulled out of his pocket was still on his table, although its owner had long since departed.

Without a second thought, Judy bound from her seat, still slightly tipsy, but fully capable enough to leap over to the nearby table, grab the envelope, and throw a handful of bills at the startled waitress as she sprinted past, rushing for the door.

Outside, night had fully fallen. The cool autumn air chilled Judy as she stood in the street, the streetlights providing the only illumination, as the overcast skies concealed the stars and moon above. Peering first one way then the other down the street, Judy could only faintly make out the figure of Katherine through the fog – the ermine, whichever way he had gone, had vanished.

Turning to head back inside, Judy had planned on asking the waitress if the ermine had been a regular at the _Catmandu_ , until she examined the envelope further. Flipping it over, she saw that it had a name on the front, without an address, or return address.

The name read ' _Judith Laverne Hopps'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Not as quick as I was hoping, but also not as slow as I was fearing - about what I expected.**

 **I'd like to apologize for the delay in uploading this chapter, it's been a hectic past couple of months - Lost my job, job hunt, start new job, car difficulties, found out that my girlfriend broke up with me sometime in the last three months and didn't see fit to tell me... Fun times!**

 **Hopefully, the next chapter will be up sooner, but knowing me as well as I do, I make no promises.**

 **Enjoy the text dump of a chapter!**

* * *

Judith Laverne Hopps sat on her bed, staring at the letter in her paws addressed to _Judith Laverne Hopps_.

When she'd rushed back into the _Cathmandu_ earlier that night, none of the staff knew who the ermine had been – they'd never seen him in the bar before, and he'd paid his tab in cash, so there was no way to get his name.

Questions circled around in her head as she sat there, staring at the unopened envelope. _Who was he?_ She'd never seen the mammal before. _Is this for me?_ Her name, while not entirely strange, wasn't entirely common either. _How'd he know where to find me?_ She hadn't told anyone her plans for the evening – Katherine had been the one to decide on the bar, and it had been a spur of the moment decision at that. _Has he been following me?_ Judy hadn't noticed anyone tailing her. _What if there's more than one mammal?_ That thought sent a chill down the doe's spine – it would explain why she hadn't noticed anyone following her. They could have been working in tandem – one would pick up where the other left off. _But why go through all that effort for me?_ The answer was sure to be in whatever was inside the envelope in her paws, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to open it.

And so it was that Judy found herself staring at the envelope, still awake at… She winced as she saw the time on her clock. If she was to catch the first train back to Bunny Burrow, then she'd have to be up in less than five hours. Knowing that she wouldn't get a wink of sleep until the mystery was at least partially solved, Judy screwed her eyes shut, ears unconsciously drooping behind her as she tore the envelope open.

After five seconds and no explosion, Judy felt comfortable enough to open her eyes, nervously pulling out the letter within.

The first thing she noticed upon pulling out the letter was the paper itself, her detective's attention to the smallest details kicking in right away. It was high quality paper, not the kind you could pick up at the corner store, in a bundle of five hundred sheets for five dollars. Even looking at the backside of it as she was, she could make out a watermark, if not the finer details of it. _High quality, possibly from a larger organization…_ Judy's hopes picked up for a second, before she firmly squashed them. _Even if the academy had changed its mind, they wouldn't do so in such a cloak and dagger way._

Unfolding the letter, Judy initially glossed over the contents, looking instead for a header or footer. _Not individually addressed, but hand-signed._ Judy let out a thoughtful _hrmm_ as her thumb felt the indentations of the signature. Picking up the discarded envelope, she examined the name on the front as opposed to the signature of the letter itself. _Different color inks, the signature has bolder, looser lines… different authors. Probably addressed by a clerk, while the organization head signed the actual letters themselves. Likely signed them to give each one the appearance of personal attention, but in reality this one's probably one of a thousand._ Frowning, Judy stared at the greasy wallpaper covered wall opposite her. _It's too personal and secretive to be standard solicitor, but I haven't done anything to warrant this sort of attention… Have I?_ Realizing after a minute of mental wrestling that she still had as of yet to read the letter, Judy gave herself a shake, trying to clear her frazzled thoughts, before dropping her attention to the letter clutched in her paws.

 _Tired of specism?_ Such a bold statement, right off the bat, drew Judy's entire attention to the letter – _Just as it was designed to,_ the subdued analytical portion of her mind pointed out. _Tired of bullying governments, businesses, unions, people who expect you to fit to their ideals because of what species you were born? Want a new start? Do you have a skill, an ambition to be a pioneer? If you're receiving this notice, you've already been considered and selected to fill out an application for a life in Zootopia._ Judy's eyebrows almost left her head at this – she'd heard tales of Zootopia since she was a kit. The amazing city of fairy-tales along the likes of Camelot and Atlantis, Zootopia was supposed to be a place where predator and prey lived in harmony, where anyone could be anything. It was quite the claim that this letter was making. _This amazing new enterprise will require emigration. But it will cost you nothing except sweat and determination to come and take part in a new world. If our vetting team has done its job, you are not a trade unionist; you are a believer in free enterprise, competition, and carving your own path through the wilderness of the world. There is room for up to twenty thousand pioneers to thrive in this new society._ A slight number higher than her initial guess of one thousand, but close enough to the point. _We ask that you show this letter to no one, whatever your decision. If you're interested, please send your reply to us at…_

Judy liked to believe that she believed in the mammals around her – if she could try to be her best every day, why wouldn't they? It was this belief that had led her, when she'd first arrived in the city from Bunnyburrow, to listen to a poor echidna's plight. Like her, he had claimed to have just arrived, but unlike her, had had all of his worldly possessions stolen. Without his wallet, he couldn't pay for room and board, or prove his identity for the job he had lined up. Touched, Judy had given him the twenty dollars she'd had on her. It was also this belief in the best of mammals which had held her back from interrupting when, two months later, she'd seen the same echidna telling the same story to one of her co-workers, who'd also given him some money. This belief had started to falter when, while on a lunch break three months later, Judy heard a familiar tale being woven by a familiar echidna to the café owner, gaining the echidna a free meal. Her belief was further hit when, six months later, a by then very familiar echidna had once more approached her with a by then very familiar tale of woe. Her belief had almost died by the time he next approached her, but was faintly rekindled when, upon confronting him on telling the same exact story several times over the course of an entire year, the echidna had 'come clean' – he told her that yes, he had lied, but only because mammals seemed to find that tale more worthy of their charity than the truth, that he was an ex-drug addict who'd been clean for six years, but because of his history, had been unable to secure a job. He'd apologized to her profusely before cheerfully informing her that his luck seemed to be turning around – he was due to start a new job in just two weeks, but until then needed charity to survive.

When the same echidna told her the tale of his new arrival in the city, only to have his luggage stolen, just over a month later, the bitter seed of cynicism had been well and truly planted in her heart.

It was because of this that Judy was highly skeptical while reading the letter – she halfway expected to read on about how each applicant was also given a villa in Shambalamb, for only their entire life savings. All snide and bitter thoughts vanished when she saw who had sent the letter, and just _whose_ signature she'd been analysing earlier, without actually _seeing_ it.

"Leodore Lionheart?!"

Judy clasped a paw over her mouth, almost as though trying to grab the exclamation back from the air. Holding still save for her ears, which twitched about at full attention, Judy listened intently for any attention her outburst may have warranted; the walls of her apartment complex were notoriously thin, and she doubted very much that her neighbors would appreciate being woken up at such an unreasonable hour.

Hearing nothing from the apartments around her, Judy let her breath out in a sigh of relief, before bringing her attention back to the letter. While her outburst wouldn't be appreciated by her neighbors, it was well warranted. Originally from some country to the east (Judy had never paid close attention to the finer politics of the corporate world, nor attention to their industries captains), Lionheart had been inordinately lucky early in his career, making a fortune almost overnight after buying a large swatch of land for next to nothing, and then striking oil on said land. After several smart investments, Lionhearts' fortune had increased exponentially, allowing him to fund the creation of several companies of his own – construction, shipping, metallurgy, medicine, basically every field that Leodore had a paw in saw a boom in its near future. Over the past couple of years, Lionheart had been in the news again, but in a completely different regard – insider sources claimed that he was liquidating his assets, but for what, no one knew. Rumors claimed that he was starting some new project, but to what scope no one could fathom. Already one of the richest mammals in the country, what reason could he have to sell off his companies? If it was for some new business venture, what scale must it be, to warrant such funding?

For all his history, Judy couldn't fathom why he'd get in contact with her. _Unless…_ Rereading the letter again, setting her cynicism aside this time, Judy couldn't help but wonder. _Could this be real?_

Judy looked at the address listed at the bottom of the page. _There's only one way to find out_

* * *

And so, with more than a little trepidation, Judy Hopps had made her way to the _Lionheart Tower_ in the heart of downtown. While the towers exterior had a hard, intimidating look to it, Judy received no resistance to her entering. Following the directions on the letter, Judy found herself in a well appointed sitting room. The secretary informed her that, while Leodore Lionheart wouldn't be there to answer her questions personally, one of his associates would be along to deal with her and the handful of other mammals sitting around the room. After filling out a confidentiality agreement form, Judy settled down in a corner, curiously eyeing the other mammals in the room.

After a twenty-minute wait, during which time three more mammals arrived, a solemn yet friendly leopard ushered the collected animals into a board room, where he once again enforced the strict policy of secrecy behind the project. Seeing as no-one left, the leopard began explaining the project in full.

Tired of the bigotry and specism in the world, Leodore Lionheart had taken it upon himself to change the world. Seeing how, despite his companies' 'Mammal Inclusion Initiative', the world at large remained set in their primitive mindsets, Lionheart had spent a large portion of his not inconsiderable fortune on his pet project. Over the past decade, Lionheart had acquired a large mass of land in an as-of-yet unspecified location, and gone about building a secluded colony, where mammals of all kinds could work in their own desired fields, no longer held back by the petty thinking of the 'traditionalist-minded politicians and societies' of the world in general.

Leopold, as the leopard was named, went on to explain that the colony itself had been mostly completed, and was already populated to a fair degree – Judy and the other animals with her, if they agreed to the venture, would be coming into a new, thriving city already well established. It was at this point that everyone in the room would need to make a decision – either they joined the new society, or leave, never to speak of it to anyone. Judy had felt a brief thrill of fear run up her spine as Leopold's piercing gaze met the eyes of everyone in the room as he informed them that they had agents scattered about the country, both keeping eyes open for new recruits, and ears open for loose lips that spilled the company's secrets, loose lips that the company had no qualms in silencing.

Seeing as no-one opted to leave the room at that point, the dangerous look of the leopard dissipated, replaced instead by a cool charisma. He asked that no-one leave the city, as they'd receive information within the week as to when and where their departure would take place. He requested that they pack the essentials of what they could not live without, as they would need to travel light, and everything else could be found for sale in Zootopia. With a curt nod and slight smile, he thanked all the mammals for their attention as they were ushered from the room.

It was three tension filled days before Judy received any information about where or when to head for this mysterious voyage – she'd called to inform her parents that she wouldn't be coming home as planned, that instead she was pursuing a new job lead, that would involve a fair bit of travel. They'd been understandably worried for her, especially with the lack of information she was giving them, but she tried to appease her guilty conscience with logic. She didn't have any more information to give, and even if she had, she legally _couldn't_.

After assuring her family that she'd be back in contact with them as soon as she could, Judy had waited anxiously, either for the promised information about her upcoming trip to the mysterious Zootopia, or Lionheart's anonymous assassins. Fortunately, it was the former that arrived, giving her a time and date to arrive at the dockyards with whatever luggage she deemed necessary.

And so, Judy arrived with her meager suitcase, along with the two-dozen other mammals keen to make their fresh start in Zootopia, at the _Jackalope_ , a two-hundred-foot-long, twin mast schooner.

"Don't worry," the lanky timber-wolf captain had assured the passengers as they warily eyed the vessel, "She may not look like much, but she was built to last. She's made this same voyage countless times, and hasn't met a storm she couldn't handle!"

Judy hadn't been so sure about the captain's assurances throughout the multi-day tempest, nor his sanity when he'd proclaimed that they'd be arriving at their destination within a matter of hours when there wasn't a speck of land to be seen on the horizon, yet both fears had proven to be for naught when they'd arrived at the lighthouse, seemingly thrown down by the hand of some mad god in the middle of the ocean.

"All ashore who's heading ashore!" The captain had hollered with a smirk, casting his gaze over the confounded herd of mammals gathered on the deck of his ship

"Where are we?" One of the passengers, a middle aged ewe, hesitantly called out from the crowd.

The captain's smirk grew into a full grin as he gestured to the monolith behind him. "Why, at your destination, of course! Just head on in, everything'll be made clear there."

Seeing how no-one else was venturing forth, Judy steeled herself, throwing her shoulders back as she clutched her suitcase in both paws, and walked forward. She warily eyed the captain as she passed him by; the old sea-wolf's grin hinted that he knew something more than he was sharing. Looking at the giant pillar rising from the sleet-grey water, Judy hesitated momentarily at the bulwark of the ship before hopping down to the slate stairwell leading up to the building; despite her mental assurances in the venture ever since she'd read the letter, doubts were starting to creep into her mind now that she was at the literal point of no return. Closing her eyes, she breathed deep, committing the smell of the oceans water, the sun-soaked wood of the ship, and the tar that helped hold the planks together to memory, before hopping down to land.

The lack of motion momentarily threw the young doe off kilter; after the multi-week journey by sea faring vessel, her body was unaccustomed to the lack of sea swell that was a constant presence while onboard the _Jackalope_. Taking a second to gather her bearings, Judy strode up the steps, her baggage thumping along behind her.

While Judy wasn't the most knowledgeable about art or architecture, she could recognize the craftsmanship that went into the structure before her. Tall, majestic, and imposing, the monolithic building seemed to radiate power through its bold lines and angles. She thought she'd heard one of the other passengers mutter something about 'art deco architecture', but she couldn't be sure whether they'd been commenting on the current construction, how they'd have done it, or something else entirely.

"Where are you going?!" The frantic shout behind her drew Judy's attention away from the building; while she'd been lost in the grandeur of the lighthouse, the rest of the passengers had disembarked from the _Jackalope_ , which was currently sailing away.

"No worries!" The captain bellowed as he waved a paw at the confused crowd.

"That answers nothing!" A thoroughly confused coyote howled back at the departing ship.

The timber wolf shook his head, a bemused expression still visible on his face. "Head inside!"

While several of the crowd continued to shout at the vanishing vessel, Judy turned back to the building. At ground level, a pair of gigantic bronze doors sat, currently closed. Shrugging to herself, Judy approached, eyeing the decorative details in the bronze cast – it looked like stylized sunbeams radiated down from the top of the doors, originating at the seam where they met, reaching about halfway down before stopping at a line. A series of rectangles rose from the bottom of the door, which as she approached Judy realized were actually miniature representations of buildings. Filing the questions she had about the artistic choices of the door away for later, Judy cautiously placed her hand against one of the doors.

Silent and smooth, the door swung inwards under barely any pressure; indeed, Judy had sprung back in surprise, and the door continued inwards, stopping with an echoing thud as it struck an interior wall.

A deer was the one to step forth this time, entering the yawning dark chasm that was the entrance. Several tense seconds passed by before his antlered head re-emerged from inside. "You guys may want to see this."

As if his works broke a spell, the crowd surged forward. Several still stuck at the stairs, gazing after the retreating form of the tall ship, but the majority of the gathered mammals entered the building. Quick footwork was all that kept Judy from getting trampled as she was swept along inside alongside the rest of the crowd.

The first thing that anyone entering the structure noticed was the gigantic bronze head that loomed over the entrance. In what may have been intended as a dramatic, glorifying pose, the figure was in reality quite imposing, looking more like it was snarling down at the newcomers rather than displaying a welcoming smile, as it was probably intended to look like. Draped underneath the gargantuan bust was a crimson banner, spelling out 'Where Anyone Can Be Anything' in golden lettering. What stood out to Judy most as she was swept down the stairs wasn't the banner, nor was it the expression on the bust, but rather than the character of the bust itself. Seeing as the invitations to the new colony had all been issued from the desk of Leodore Lionheart, and knowing what she did about the lion, Judy wouldn't have been surprised if the egotistical billionaire's visage had been boasted above the entrance to the brave new world he had founded.

Instead, the face lording over all newcomers was that of a lamb that Judy had no idea who might be.

Seeing as no-one who had arrived with her was likely to know the answer of just who the bust was of, and that on a whole the crowd seemed more interested in what may be at the bottom of the stairs rather than who was glorified at the top, Judy keep her questions to herself.

While she wasn't sure exactly what she'd been expecting at the bottom of the staircase, it certainly wasn't what awaited the group. A strange, spherical vessel bobbed lightly in the pool of water at the centre of the room; inspecting it as best she could from a distance, over the course of only a second or two, Judy surmised that it was likely a submersible of some form, if the suction seals around the open glass hatchway and the strange podium with levers protruding from it were anything to go by.

The other oddity that the room held was the very impatient arctic hare standing in front of the vessel. His foot had been beating a tattoo into the black and white marble flooring as he checked his pocket watch, but as the group descended his foot ceased its movement, and he returned the watch to his waistcoat pocket with a huff.

"It took you all long enough!" The new rabbit berated them, foot already beginning to once again twitch. "I'm sure Captain Saltchuck would have some 'perfectly reasonable, nothing I could do' excuse, but really! You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!" Rushing over to one of the group members, the rabbit began forcibly pushing the startled coyote towards the craft. "Well, in you go! Can't keep them waiting much longer!"

Any objections that the herded mammals had were promptly ignored by the hare as he ushered them into the craft, the only explanation being "You're late!" Only around a quarter of the travellers could fit in the thing, Judy included. Seeing how he wasn't likely to fit any more onboard, the hare squirmed and wriggled his way through the mass of passengers until he arrived at the podium at the back, near the control panel.

"There will be other bathyspheres for the rest of you shortly!" the frantic hare hollered as he tugged at a series of levers. With a pneumonic hiss, the great door at the front of the vessel swung shut, trapping the mammals inside. "Don't worry," the hare at the rear spoke over the concerned murmurings around him, "The bathysphere has enough compressed air to last all of us an hour, at least. Now hold on to your hats, please remain in your seats, because here we go!"

With a great leap, the hare sprung up to the largest of the levers, clamping hold onto it. The lever shifted slightly, but remained upright. The rabbit huffed as he swung his weight about, grumbling louder as the lever refused to budge. After several seconds of effort, he hung limp with a sigh as he turned to the lynx next to him. "Would you mind?"

The feline in question gave an unconcerned shrug, and flipped the lever with barely any effort.

There was a loud hiss of escaping air as the bathysphere began to sink. From her position at the front of the vessel, Judy watched in fascination as, slowly at first but with increasing speed, the room, mammals, and water surface rose above her field of view, replaced by a concrete shaft underwater. Posted on the walls of the submerged column they were within were signs gauging the depths. Ten fathoms, twenty fathoms, fifty, one hundred, two, the signs rocketed past the face of the vessel with an increasing frequency.

"It's supposed to do that, folks! Everything's fine!" The familiarly frantic voice from the rear of the vessel shouted. "We just have to make up on our lost time!"

Fortunately for the newly arrived mammals, it appeared that the hare in control of the ship did, in fact, have control of the ship, as the rate at which the numbers flew past the submersible started slowing as they passed seven hundred and fifty fathoms. By the time the craft had reached nine hundred, it had slowed back down to a pace that seemed like they weren't plummeting to their deaths.

"Alright, folks, almost there, brace yourselves…" The bathysphere slid to a halt amidst a clattering of gears and levers at a depth of one thousand fathoms, in front of a large plate door. "Welcome, folks," Judy could practically hear the smile in the hare's voice from her position; he was hidden from view as the mammals behind her started pressing forwards, eager to see what was on the other side of the door. "To Zootopia!"

The crowd pressed even further forward as the door… remained shut. Labored huffing from the rabbit could be heard from the rear of the vessel, followed by another weary sigh. "Oh, for the love of… Would you be so kind…? Thank you."

With a low, ponderous moan, the giant metal door in front of them parted, swinging dramatically outwards, allowing the mammals within their first view of the fabled city.

When Judy had first received the letter inviting her to Zootopia, she'd been halfway convinced that it had all been a dream. As the great steel door opened in front of her, she wasn't convinced that she still wasn't dreaming, as there was no way that the sight in front of her could exist in real life.

Nestled amidst great underwater mountains rose monoliths of metal and glass, futuristic skyscrapers rising alongside kelp forests and fumaroles. As the bathysphere slid through the water, the mammals within pressed against the glass aperture, marveling at the sights in front of them. The vessel approached the great gleaming city, bringing more details into view. Each building seemed self-contained, engineered to withstand the immense pressures of the deep ocean, yet with interconnecting tubes, through which the city's residents could be seen travelling, only a bare few pausing to look at the newcomers. Judy gasped, pressing back against the mass of flesh behind her as a giant squid pulsed past overhead, navigating the artificial canyons of the city around it.

The city itself was still obviously under construction – great lumbering behemoths, ponderous in their bulky suits trod across the ocean floor, bright flashes of welding torches or bubbles from pressurized rivet guns giving tell that these were the constructors and maintainers of the great city. The workers were hard at work on all levels of the cities buildings – some were laying the foundations of skyscrapers yet to be built, others setting the panes of glass which would keep the water at bay, and yet more were aided by smaller animals in customized bathyspheres, built with great pincers and cranes, raising and setting large neon signs advertising businesses already underway within.

Judy could hear the mammals around her murmur in awe, but she was too lost in her own to grasp what any of them were saying. The bathysphere slid through the buildings with a grace unlike what she'd seen in any vessel on the land, the hare in the back continually chattering to himself about schedules and the like, but Judy paid him no mind. "It's _real_ …" Despite the proof around her, Judy still had difficulty accepting what she was seeing. There was no way that a place like this could exist, no way that she was in a bathysphere, miles underwater, gliding through a city, no way that… that… that was the surface of the ocean, impossible to make out details of, softly letting sunlight from above trickle down, illuminating the impossible city with shades of green and blue.

Eventually their voyage had to come to an end, and as the vessel approached one of the larger buildings, Judy had a feeling that the end of the vessels journey was fast approaching, if hers was just beginning. The building had a port in the side of it, the right size and shape for the bathysphere. Around the aperture in bold lettering was a message: "All Things Good on This Earth Flow into the City".

The door to the building was different from the one at the base of the lighthouse; multi-segmented, it spiraled open from the centre, looking for all the world like an eyes pupil dilating. The vessel entered with only a slight scraping along the sides, the rabbit at the controls angrily muttering to himself amongst the thuds and creaking of the levers at the back. The wall in front of the viewport slid down out of view as the vessel rose, until eventually the ship bounced on the surface of the water inside the building.

Some of the mammals inside shuffled awkwardly, waiting in the concealed space. Again, strained grunts could be heard from the back of the vessel. "Why- _huff_ -is- _unf_ -it- _erg-_ always- _come on!-_ the- _huff-_ door- _err-_ ones?" Many more of the animals began chortling as the hare heaved another sigh. "Yeah, this one right here, the one I'm hanging on, that's it, thanks." With a pneumonic hiss, the glass door opened, allowing an outflow of cramped animals.

The first view of the interior of Zootopia that the freshly arrived mammals were greeted with was far from impressive; concrete dock-like structures allowing for access of multiple bathyspheres at once, bare, grey walls with only a few windows allowing sights from the outside to be seen, and a simple red rug running along the walkway towards a door off to the side. Despite being the first group to leave the lighthouse, several bathyspheres had already docked and unloaded their passengers, the disembarked mammals making their way along the pathway. Seeing the difficulties that their ships pilot had had, Judy wasn't surprised to see that they were in fact the _last_ vessel to arrive. Stepping to the side of the door, Judy waited for the flood of larger mammals to disembark before leaving, taking only a moment to thank their pilot for the journey.

Said hare seemed rather surprised to be addressed before tripping over his tongue, half thanking Judy for her consideration and half admonishing her for waiting behind as she was already late as it was.

Tailing after the other mammals from her bathysphere, Judy exited the chamber, only to stop in her tracks on the other side of the door. Whereas the first chamber had been thoroughly underwhelming, the next room made up for it in spades. The open spaced chamber stretched several stories tall, the blue-green marble blocks broken regularly by balconies stretching most of the was around the room, from which the animals of the city walked as they went about their daily lives. Extravagant crystal chandeliers shone light down from the ceiling, illuminating the grand banners trailing down, bolding stating the likes of 'Creativity', 'Liberty', 'Ingenuity', 'Science' and 'Commerce'. Several elevators, caged with finely wrought metal and shaft illuminated by some source of a soft, golden light lined the far end of the chamber, framing a large sculpture of some grand winged feline that stretched towards the ceiling. Between the mass of mammals that Judy slowly worked her way to the front of and the elevators proving to be the only entrance to Zootopia was a mostly glass wall with another 'art deco' door set in the middle, and a separate group of four mammals- two foxes, one male and one female, an ewe who looked stunningly similar to the gargantuan bust in the lighthouse, and Leodore Lionheart.

Even though he wasn't actively addressing the crowd, the lion still had an imposing presence over the gathered crowd. Dressed sharply in a mustard yellow three-piece suit, he stood straight backed, alternating between eyeing the crowd and the lamb next to him. Said lamb was currently muttering to herself, point at specific newly arrived animals and then down at her clipboard, seemingly consulting a list of the new arrivals. Several seconds later, the lamb nodded, seemingly satisfied, and looked up at Leodore, coughing to catch his attention.

"That's everyone, sir."

"Excellent, Bellwether, excellent!" Stepping forward, the lion puffed his chest out, running a paw through his mane. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Any murmurs that the gathered crowd was making silenced before Leodore's grand voice. "Welcome to Zootopia! You're here because we want the best, and you are it. Now, you already met one another on the ride down, so let me introduce myself. I'm Leodore Lionheart. I funded the creation of this great city."

"You've done more than just that, sir!" For having such a small, timid voice, the lambs' protestations instantly drew the lions' attention. With a smile and a sweep of his comparatively large paw, he brought the protesting ewe forward.

"And that eager voice you heard is the lovely Miss Bellwether, the brains behind this operation. She's the backbone of this city."

The lion made soothing gestures with his paws as the gathered mammals before him started murmuring – an act which Judy found herself caught up in. "He's not in charge?"

"Now, I can understand that you're all confused, but let me make one thing abundantly clear; none of you were brought here under false pretenses." At the top of the stairs, Lionheart began pacing, making eye contact with everyone in the assembled crowd. Judy felt a thrill shiver through her as his determined gaze briefly met her own. "Zootopia was built as a chance for all of us to begin anew, where the prejudices of the world above hold no sway. I believe in this project, and have spent every cent I owned to see it come to fruition. However, the great brain who thought this whole place up belongs to Miss Bellwether here."

The lamb in question seemed startled as the large lion took a step back, leaving the floor open to her. Turing her back on the crowd, she began lightly beating at Lionheart's legs. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that? You know I hate being put on the spot like this!" Her glower was met by an amused smirk from the target of her fury, as he looked pointedly at the crowd behind her. Seemingly just remembering that there was, in fact, said crowd there, the little lamb slowly turned back to them. "Hi…!" As her prolonged greeting was met by an uncomfortable silence, the ewe nervously began playing with a bell attached to the necklace she wore. "Um, yes, so, uh, as Mister Lionheart here was saying, um, we, that is, I, came up with the idea behind Zootopia. Yes." Closing her eyes, Bellwether drew a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. After another long second of uncomfortable silence, she looked back at the crowd, hands dropping by her sides. "When I looked at the world on the surface, I saw unjust hatred and prejudice, not just against me, but to everyone. I was only seen as a lamb, someone to be timid and weak. Mister Lionheart is, well, a lion, and so many mammals who I knew saw him as a predator and a bully, and little more. Everyone lived by double standards; they claimed to hate how they were viewed just because of their species, and yet looked no deeper than the fur before judging those around them. When I came up with the idea of making Zootopia real, that was all that I had – an idea. When I approached the banks for the funds, I was laughed out within the first minute. I had no backers to look to for help, no way of even getting the foundations built… Not until I met Mister Lionheart here." With a small smile, Bellwether turned briefly back to the lion behind her, before once again addressing the crowd. "He understood the passion I had for this project, and had the money and resources to get it off the ground – or, rather, beneath the sea. So, despite what the foolish lion may say," The smile was replaced by a playful scowl, "I was only the idea behind Zootopia; Mister Lionheart had a much greater role in its creation."

"Nonsense, Dawn!" Leodore stepped forward beside Miss Bellwether, draping a comparatively large paw over her shoulder. "Everyone here has had just as great a contribution to Zootopia as anyone else – I may have built the body, but you created the mind, whereas all the mammals who now inhabit it have created its spirit. That includes you lot, now, too!" Leodore winked at the crowd, before turning to the two foxes still behind him. "As for Miss Montoya back here, well… You could say she forms the immune system of this analogy."

"Indeed I do." The vixen strode forward, stopping in an authoritative stance. She spoke with an accent that Judy couldn't quite place. "My name is Inspector Carmelita Montoya, and as Mister Lionheart over here informed you in his rather unorthodox manner, I am the one in charge of security in Zootopia. As much as this city was built to be a paradise, there are still rules to be followed, no matter how much some may wish it otherwise." Carmelita's tail flipped behind her in agitation, and she made a move to look at the as-of-yet unnamed tod behind her, but stopped herself, masking the motion as though she were working a knot in her neck. "The rules should be fairly self-explanatory, just like on the surface. If you should have any questions about what is and what is not allowed, ask me or one of my constables. But know, criminals of any sort _will_ be brought to justice."

"Thank you for that _wonderful_ welcoming speech, Miss Montoya." Leodore gave a half-hearted couple of claps before folding his hands behind his back. "That being said, Zootopia is to be a city of new opportunities. Unfettered by the restrictions of the surface, we believe that anyone can thrive in any field that they so chose – indeed, several _new_ fields of both science and commerce have already sprung up from the minds of our top researchers! Many new markets have opened up, looking for bright new… enterprising…" During his speech, Leodore had reached into his suit, pulling out a cigar. Holding it between his teeth, he exaggeratedly patted his pockets, before looking at his fellows before the crowd. "Do any of you have a light? I seem to have replaced mine." The unknown fox at the rear heaved a sigh, rolling his eyes as he strolled towards the lion. Judy expected to see him pull out some matches or a lighter, but instead he just reached towards the unlit cigar. What Judy hadn't expected was for, with a snap of his fingers, the foxes hand to burst into flames. Judging by the shouts and commotion going on behind her, none of the other new arrivals had expected that either. Those gathered in front of the newcomers, however, showed more reaction to the newcomers' commotion than the spectacle that had just occurred in front of them. With a knowing smirk, Leodore Lionheart stepped aside, sweeping his large paw holding his now lit cigar towards the row of elevators behind him. "Just one of the many marvels that await you all here in Zootopia. And so, friends; Welcome."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N 11:55 where I live as I publish this, so technically it's still Halloween, and only a week late!**

 **...that should not be an accomplishment to be proud of.**

 **I have reasons! (Do you know how many times I rewrote how much of this story! Too many/too much!) Excuses! (My coworkers are stumps who can't keep their schedules straight, and I got a s*** ton more work!) The truth! (I'm a master procrastinator!)**

 **Something I've realized that I've been forgetting; Thank you, all of you lovely people who read/favourite/follow this strange story of mine. Especially thank you Selaxes and Combat Engineer for your lovely reviews. Your kind words have definitely helped keep me motivated.**

 **And now, on to the story!**

* * *

To say that Judy was impressed by the city around her would be a tremendous understatement. Saying that the city was impressive was like saying that the fields of her family's farm back in Bunnyburrow were dirt; while the one-word description was technically true, it lacked all the subtle nuances that came about from life on the farm, it didn't cover how much sweat and effort went into keeping the fields fertile for the crops, the buried rocks which could wreak havoc on the farm equipment, the feeling of accomplishment looking over a field overflowing with crops, the sensation of how the mud squelched underfoot… in short, the farm was so much more than dirt, and Zootopia was so much more than impressive.

As she walked down Main Street in the Agora District, Judy's eyes rarely stayed still for long, eagerly soaking in all the sights around her. While not as tall as the Welcoming Centre, the streets architecture kept the same open concept, the street itself more than wide enough for two elephant sized cars to drive abreast (although she had yet to see any vehicles in the city, aside from the bathyspheres which allowed entrance). The outer walls and roof were comprised of some sort of glass, allowing the mammals within to see other sectors of the city beyond, as well as what little of the ocean surrounding the city was illuminated through the glass. The light in the hallway simulated natural sunlight, with the bulbs themselves cleverly hidden so as to not be overtly obvious. What impressed Judy the most, however, was the city's occupants; seemingly staying true to the city's intentions, all manner of mammals walked down Main Street, and occupied all sorts of occupations: there was a wolf manning the host stand of a restaurant further up the street, a male bovine working a shop which displayed numerous fine works of porcelain wear, and an elephant showcasing their intricate jewelry to a browsing raccoon, with no sign of suspicion towards her customer.

So lost was she in admiring the city around her, Judy almost walked right past the weasel at the music store who was trying to get her attention. It was only at the fourth cry of "Miss!" that she realized that it was in fact the doe herself that the mustelid was trying to catch the attention of. Uncertainly pointing to herself, Judy approached when the weasel nodded.

"Why hello there, miss! How are you this fine day?" The weasel didn't even wait to hear Judy's response before continuing. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have the look of one who's new to Zootopia. Am I right? Of course I'm right! You have that look in your eye that all newcomers have, you're dazed, dazzled, bamboozled, stupefied! That, and I have a memory for faces, and I'd recall seeing someone as pretty as yourself before!" Judy barely supressed a shudder at the salesman's attempt at a charismatic wink. She was very tempted to keep walking as the weasel continued. "Now, I know what you're probably thinking, 'Who is this weasel and how can I get his address?' HA! No, you're probably wondering what I'm selling, and let me tell you, it's nothing! I'm not selling you anything today, in fact, I'm giving you something for free! Have you ever heard of an audio diary?" Reaching over to the small table beside him, the weasel picked up a red device from one of the stacks, grabbing a medium sized one and holding it out in front of him. "Of course not! You've just arrived! Betcha've never seen anything like it before!"

Against her better judgement, Judy found herself replying to the weasel with the overly greased fur. "No, I can't say as I have. What's it do?"

Instead of replying, the mustelid smirked, clicking one of the buttons on the front of the device. A short whirring sound was emitted, and then with another button clicked, Judy was shocked to hear her own voice coming from the machine. "No, I can't say as I have. What's it do?"

"Just what it sounds like, ma'am! It allows you to vocally record any thoughts, ideas, inspirations, or musings you might have! And it's all yours today if you want it!"

Reaching out, Judy took the small device from the weasel, turning it over as she examined it, only half listening as the salesmammal prattled on about how to use the device. As much as she hated stereotyping mammals, thoughts of the echidna floated to the surface of her memory, as well as her father's voice complaining about his cribbage partner. "What's the catch?"

If the weasel took any offence to the suspicion, he didn't show it. "No catch whatsoever, ma'am! Mister Lionheart is just hoping to assemble a collection of the people's thoughts on Zootopia, have a first hand account of the city's beginnings. Might be as he wants to archive them for posterity's sake, open a museum about them down the road, who knows! All I know is I get paid to give them out for free! First one only, that is. Have to pay for them from here on out. If there's a catch, that's the closest you'll find to it here!"

Nodding in interest, Judy put the device in her purse. "It looks like a fascinating device, for sure. If I need any more-"

"You know where to find me!" With a quick flash of a smile and a nod, the weasel, just as quickly as he'd launched into his spiel with her, flung himself at another newcomer, starting his sales pitch all over again. Shaking her head at his antics, Judy continued down the street, keeping an eye out for the side street she'd been told of.

The further into the city she went, the less settled in the stores started looking. Most of the buildings were still open for business, but here and there were a few scattered, empty save for the 'Building for Sale' signs in the window, and several of the ones that were open showed signs that they were still getting settled into their paces – some shelves still waiting to be filled, staff either shorthanded or still organizing the stores, but that was all to be expected. The alley that Judy had been directed to, however, was not. The majority of the buildings were vacant, with signs of ongoing construction still about; scaffolding clogging up half the alleyway, sounds of power tools echoing out from behind tarps, and not even all the lighting had been installed here yet. For a moment, the doe was concerned that the directions given to her by the chief of security had been wrong, until she saw what looked to be the only completed building in the alley, almost exactly halfway between Main Street and the next one over. Sure enough, there was the small office that Carmelita had directed her towards. Approaching her quarry, Judy couldn't help but think back to the disappointing conversation.

* * *

 _"I'm sorry, Miss Hopps, but I don't think that you'd be a good fit with my organization."_

 _After the introductory speech, Judy had approached Zootopia's Chief of Security directly, stating her desire to join her force. Being so snubbed, Judy felt anger bubble up inside of her. "It's because I'm a bunny, isn't it?" She felt a small twinge of satisfaction at the surprised look on the foxes face. "I thought that in Zootopia, anyone could be anything, but it turns out that you're just like the other mammals on the surface!"_

 _The surprise on the vixen's face morphed into a cold anger. "Perhaps you're right, Miss Hopps, maybe I was a bit hasty. So tell me, how much police work experience do you have?"_

 _Judy blinked, not expecting the conversation to turn back on itself so quickly. "Well, I don't actually-"_

 _"You don't have any? I see. And how about security work?"_

 _Judy kept silent, her gaze dropping to the ground. "No ma'am."_

 _The vixen nodded, mouth setting in a thin line. "Do you have any pertinent experience whatsoever?"_

 _"I… worked as a private investigator for a while."_

 _"And how did that turn out for you?" Carmelita's gaze softened as the doe in front of her seemed to shrink in on herself. "Look, Miss Hopps, I understand and appreciate your passion for this line of work, believe me; without the same drive, I wouldn't be here myself. I don't doubt that with the training, you'd be a fantastic officer one day, but I need officers_ now _. To train you up to the standards I require would take months, and that's time I just don't have right now."_

 _"I understand."_

 _Seeing the despondent doe before her, Carmelita offered a kind smile. "You're a good mammal, Miss Hopps; if I had just five officers with your passion, I believe we could make Zootopia the paradise it was meant to be in no time. In the meantime, my office is always open to you; I could always use an extra eye on the streets." As she was about to turn back to the slowly diminishing crowd, the fox paused before looking back to the doe. "You said that you worked as a private investigator? If you're up for the work again, I'd suggest looking into the Wilde Card Detective Agency, just off Main Street. I know my cousin could use all the help he can get there."_

* * *

Shaking her head, Judy pulled herself out of her reverie. _This is it,_ she thought as she approached the door, _my fresh start!_

…only to find her fresh start locked. "What?!" Judy gave the door another experimental tug, but the obstacle remained firmly in place. Looking through the glass panel of the door, she found the interior to be completely dark. "How's he not back yet?" Examining the pane, Judy saw the business name and logo, but no hours of operation. "Maybe it's his day off?" She mused to no-one in particular, before shrugging. "I'll just have to try again later."

* * *

When construction on what was officially dubbed the 'Seaport Project' began, almost immediately problems arose. Leodore Lionheart wanted utmost secrecy for his pet project, but with the remote location and the number of workers hired, there would either need to be a small fleet of vessels or a giant cruise ship permanently anchored to the spot, with a small army of boats ferrying supplies to the location. These solutions were far from the level of inconspicuousness that Leodore Lionheart was looking for.

Which is why it surprised his underlings when he did almost exactly that.

Under the guise of starting a daring new enterprise in subaquatic tourism, Lionheart commissioned the construction of an as-of-yet unseen nautical hybrid – part cruise liner, part submarine, this vessel would allow the work crews to be permanently living on the ocean floor, only a short sea-bed walk away from Zootopia's foundations, while the 'cruise line' cover allowed for massive amounts of foodstuffs to be purchased. Lionheart even had his corporations create hundreds of imaginary mammals, complete with education and job histories, credit and financial records supplied by subsidiaries of his other companies, to buy into these 'cruises', should the government of the surface look too deeply into his new company.

While the _Ocean Dream_ , as the vessel was named, _had_ been built for long, subaquatic voyages, it had never been built to be permanently situated at such great depths. As the bright new city of Zootopia arose around it, and at points even connected to it, the ship itself suffered. Pressures accrued, leaks began to spring, to the point where the ship needed almost constant maintenance to prevent flooding. The city's planners weren't concerned, however; the ship had only ever been intended for temporary shelter, and as the months and years rolled past, more and more of the city was completed, making the _Ocean Dream_ unnecessary and all but forgotten.

Which made it the perfect location for 'affordable housing' for Zootopia's more unfortunate citizens. For the most part forgotten and out of the way as it was, rules and regulations in 'The Warren', as it was unofficially dubbed, were far more lax than they were in Zootopia prime. Security rarely came down there, making it a haven for the city's more unsavory characters, such as small time thieves and drug den operators. Legitimate businesses were few and far between, as those with the influence and means to open a business of their own chose to do so in the main city itself, despite the higher business licence fees.

When she had first heard talk of the Warren, Judy was disgusted that such a place could exist right under the nose of the Zootopian Council, with nothing being done about it.

After living in Zootopia for two weeks, Judy barely registered the rust spots on the walls or the puddles of water that congregated in the corners of the Warren as she trudged through the halls on her way to work.

For a solid week, at least twice a day, Judy had made sure to stop by the Wilde Card Agency office, but never once had the office been open, nor had she ever seen anyone inside. Not to say that Judy had put all her hopes on the one company for her employment; for the rest of her time during that week, Judy had explored Zootopia, both familiarizing herself with the city and hunting for other possible means of employment, but Serendipity was not on her side it would seem. Almost no business wanted her employ; either she didn't have the experience, or they weren't hiring, or she was too short, or too tall, or 'wasn't what they were looking for'. For newcomers to the city, the first week's worth of free room and board were covered as the newly arrived mammals got themselves set up, but as her first week came to a close, Judy found herself no better off than she'd been her first day. She'd considered setting up her own security force, but hadn't for a number of reasons. Firstly, it didn't feel right, setting up as a competitor to Carmelita's force, as though protecting the residents of Zootopia was a competition to see who could do a better job of it, secondly, Judy didn't have the funds or resources to set up her own company, and thirdly, even if the first two points weren't an issue, it seemed that in the main sectors of Zootopia, peace reigned supreme; Judy doubted her services would even be necessary. Nearing the end of her rope, Judy attempted to turn back to the one job she knew better than any other, having grown up basically living it, but even the farms wouldn't take her; well established as they were, they didn't need any more workers. Or, as the owner of one of the orchards had so bluntly put it, 'no more rabbits!'

And no matter what, no matter how bad her circumstances were, Judy was under _no_ circumstances going to consider working at the _Golden Cat_ , a business that she'd heard of that was always willing to take on more female workers, especially 'cute little bunnies'. She shuddered at remembering what she'd heard about the _house of pleasure_ , as it had been politely described.

And so it was that Judy found herself walking through the sodden halls of the Warren, past the bags of garbage which never seemed to leave, on her way to work.

Daintily stepping over the unconscious bear slumbering away an unpleasant smelling night of drinking, Judy pushed open one of the bulkheads, suppressing a sigh as she stepped into what had once been one of the _Ocean Dream's_ recreational rooms.

Despite the state of the rest of the Warren, the bar known as the _Siren's Call_ was surprisingly well kept. The floor didn't have any puddles, no leaks dripped water down on the occupants from the ceiling, and there were very few rust spots along the walls; walls which even had a coat of paint on them, a rarity down in the Warren. Still, it wasn't much to look at. As one of the supposed 'employee break rooms' on the _Ocean Dream_ , the furnishings were spartan; metal benches and tables bolted to the floor, one wall held the cafeteria's window to the kitchen, while the rest was devoid of anything to break the monotony of the room. Since the liner had been transformed into the slums of Zootopia, the only change to the architecture of the room was that one corner had been cleared as a small stage.

"Good evening, Sophie!" The otter in question mustered a grin, half-heartedly waving at Judy as the rabbit passed, before returning to bussing the half-filled tables. Cheerily waving back, Judy quietly hummed to herself as she weaved about the rooms furnishings, struggling for a moment to open the door to the kitchen. Fortunately, everything in the _Siren's Call_ had initially been made for medium sized mammals, so the bunny didn't have too much trouble going about her business. The boar manning the bar ignored her, as usual, instead taking stock of what liquors were on hand for the evening.

Despite the fact that the kitchen was still technically in use, the bar was more often used for its drinks than its food, so much of the initial storage space had been repurposed. What had once been the kitchens dry goods storage space had been repurposed for the owner's office; Judy had no idea what the room even looked like, as the weasel who owned the business was very particular about his privacy. The room Judy was more intimately familiar with had initially been the kitchens' walk in freezer; with the refrigeration unit shut off and most of the shelving units cleared out, the room was surprisingly roomy and soundproof; both excellent features for its current use.

Judy huffed as she slid the one-time fridges door closed behind her, before plastering a smile on her face as she spun to face the rooms occupants. "You guys ready to make the world sing?"

A series of half-hearted grunts of agreement greeted her. "You're the only one singing tonight, love," the lion at the corner of the table spoke around the reed sitting in the corner of his mouth as Judy passed by and stepped behind the curtain set up at the end of the room for privacy.

"Well, only if you go out with that attitude, maybe! I have a feeling tonight's going to be a good night." Judy hurriedly shed her casual clothes, eyeing her outfit as where it rested on the hanger.

"How do you always stay so cheerful?" Judy grinned as she heard the bear on the other side of the curtain grumble. Her grin grew a little more as she heard the rhythmic thumping and tapping from one of the rooms two wolves stop, shortly followed by a fleshy smack.

"Don't get her started again…"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," – Judy's voice faltered for a moment as she struggled with the zipper on her dress – "I always figured that the world's only as bad as you make it out to be." Judy's smile re-emerged as she heard Mac, the bands percussionist, quietly mutter the words along with her. Despite all his grumbling, she was sure that his annoyance with her optimism was only a front; otherwise, he'd have said something about it over the past week. "If we only make one mammal out there smile, then I'd say we've done a good job; we've brightened someone's day!" She fussed a moment with the way the dress sat for a moment before stepping out from behind the curtain. "How do I look?"

The other wolf didn't look up from his finger tapping on the rooms solitary table, grumbling to himself. "I'd say it's been a good night if we get halfway decent tips tonight." The lion smacked him upside the head before turning to look at Judy.

"You look great, Judy."

"Thanks, Leo! Are you sure it's not too low cut in the back? And I know the slit on the leg gives me better movement, but it wouldn't need to be there if the thing wasn't so tight! And does it _have_ to be cut so high?" Spinning in circles as though trying to get a better look at herself, Judy felt a warm glow in her chest as she heard the rooms other occupants laugh at her antics. True, they were her coworkers, but these four were also some of the only ones who she'd call her friends in Zootopia, and if she made them happy, then that made her happy.

The laughter in the room cut short as the door slid open, the bar's owner pushing his head inside. "Enough slacking off, you chuckleheads, you're on stage in five!" Judy winced as the door slid shut with a slam. Unlike Mac, she had no pretentions that Alex's irritability with the band's antics was genuine.

As the bands unofficial leader, Leo stood up from his seat, standing where he could see each band member. He stood silent for a moment, observing the mammals in front of him. "Alright, guys, let's really wow them tonight. We'll start with 'The Future is Coming On', and work through the set from there. You good?" This last was addressed to Judy. The rest of the band had been performing together since they'd arrived in Zootopia, with Leo and Cameron, the pianist, having played together on the surface. Judy, on the other hand, had been with them for just under a week, and although she'd done spectacularly in her audition and rehearsals, tonight would be her first live show. Understandably, the band was nervous, but despite her own shot nerves, Judy maintained what she hoped was a confident expression.

"I was born ready!"

"Good." With a heave, the door slid open once more under Cam's paw, and the pianist swept a paw towards the open door. "Then it's time to strike up the band!"

* * *

Had Judy been asked to describe that first performance on a live stage, she wouldn't have been able to give a coherent answer. It had all happened so fast, and yet seemed to take forever. She could only remember snippets afterwards, as though she'd read a book once, and then tried to again, only to find one page in ten still legible. Stepping in front of the microphone, she'd felt as though she were under the worlds most intense spotlight, an oppressively warm heat running through her, despite the fact that the entire room was uniformly lit, cool, and damp. She couldn't see the faces of the crowd, and barely heard the band behind her; she'd stumbled over her entrance, and then in a blink of an eye they were halfway through their third song. Distinctly, she remembered noticing that Alex had been there at the beginning, but had disappeared into the back with a trio of animals who looked like business mammals; dressed in suits, briefcases in paw, the meerkats didn't look like they belonged in the Warren. The next thing she knew, Judy was supporting herself against the microphones pole as she draped herself against it, microphone in hand, pouring her heart out into the last notes of the final song.

Silence had filled the room for several seconds, during which Judy had tried to regain her senses; had she messed up? She couldn't remember the majority of the set, and that was terrifying, as it meant she'd been acting without conscious thought for the better part of half an hour. Any doubts were wiped away, however, as the room erupted in applause. Looking out into the gloom, Judy saw that the room, which had been at most half full at the beginning of the evening, was now approaching capacity. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the rest of the band, all beaming and as breathless as she was. Looking back at the audience, she swept an arm behind her, hearing the shuffling of the band as the stood, and bowed. With all the dignity she could manage, Judy replaced the microphone on its stand, waited for the band to have set their instruments down, and together, set off for the bands room in the back.

Judy remained composed and dignified all the through the applauding crowd, carefully setting one foot after the next, smiling and nodding at the smiling faces around her, registering but not hearing the compliments that were being given to her and the band behind her. It wasn't until they had reached the cooler that her façade vanished as the bunny alternated between gasping for breath and squealing for delight as she bounced around the room. "That was amazing!" She finally vocalized her emotions as she collapsed back on the table, a bout of giggles erupting from her chest. "Is it always like that?"

After several seconds to pat himself down and regain his composure, Leo turned to Judy. "Always? No. Normally? No. Ever? No. Most nights, we're nothing but background noise to the animals out there. Tonight, though… You stole the show, love." The lion grinned wider than Judy had ever seen before; she barely managed to supress a shudder at the sight of all of those teeth. "You've been what we needed to get noticed."

"And outta here!" Cam was literally bouncing where he stood, looking at the others in the room. "Did you guys see the money we were bringing in tonight? Keep this up, and we'll be outta here in no time!" Throwing back his head, he let out an unrestrained howl, quickly joined by Mac. The enthusiasm in the room seemed contagious; even the normally dour Matt cracked a grin, although the bear remained silent. Judy looked up at Leo as the lion's gargantuan paw enveloped her shoulder.

"You head home and rest up that voice of yours, love; we'll divvy up the spoils and have your share for you tomorrow."

Judy nodded as she went back behind the curtain to change back into her casual clothes; she trusted Leo, and the band in general, to be fair and honest about the groups earnings, and besides, after a night like tonight, nothing could bring her down!

* * *

It was strange; as Judy had made her way back to the _Siren's Call_ , she'd felt on top of the world, like nothing could ruin her mood. After all, the night before had been fantastic, finally, the first sign of good fortune she'd received since arriving in Zootopia. As soon as she'd entered the bar, however, something felt… _off._ There were still the half-dozen or so regulars who seemed to live in the establishment, Sophie was still half-mindedly cleaning the tables… really the only thing that seemed different was the fact that both boar bartenders were in tonight, and giving her more attention than normal. As in, they both looked at her as she walked past. Stepping into the band's room, however, the feeling was much more palpable.

Gone was the normal banter between the friends, instead replaced by an oppressive silence. Cam and Mac sat across from each other at the table, Cam unconsciously clawing at the tabletop while Mac just sat there with his head on his arms, staring off at nothing. To the casual observer Matt appeared unchanged, the bear sitting quietly in the corner, but whereas normally his silence stemmed from apathy, today he was obviously wide awake and seething, if the growl that came from his chest every few seconds was any sign. And Leo… the lion was sulking in the corner. Judy didn't even no that lions _could_ sulk, but the bands leader definitely seemed deflated.

"Hey guys, ready to make the world sing?" Judy tried to maintain her positive attitude, but in the cloyingly depressed feel of the room, it definitely fell flat.

The only response her traditional greeting got was Mac wearily raising his head from his arms. "Hey, Judy, you still got your contract?"

The question confused Judy; it was definitely not the manner of response she'd been expecting. "Yeah? It's still back in my room."

"You sure about that?"

Before Judy could again respond to the wolf, Leo tossed the bundle of papers that he'd been holding onto the table. Looking at him, Leo pointedly glanced from Judy to the papers. With a growing feeling of unease, Judy picked up one of the forms, quickly reading through it. As she read through, Judy's eyes grew wider and wider. Finally finished reading through the accursed piece of parchment, she looked around at the others in the room. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"Apparently not, love."

"But I never signed this!"

"Care to look again?"

Shuffling through the sheets, Judy saw, plain as day, each band member's signatures on the bottoms of the sheets, her own included. "I never signed this…" Judy repeated, before standing up, determined. "And I can prove this! I still have my original contract, not this… this… Argh!" Throwing the sheets into the air, Judy stormed towards the door, only to have her path blocked by Leo's arm. Glaring up at the lion, Judy gestured to the offending appendage. "Move."

"It's no use, love. My copy's gone."

"Did you just, I don't know, misplace it?"

Leo chuckled lifelessly at Judy's accusation. "From the binder which I've kept all my other contracts? Not likely."

"I kept mine under my bed." Cam shrugged at the looks cast his way, before gesturing upwards with his paws. "Poof."

Mac nodded before dropping his head back to his arms. "I always keep mine mixed in with my sheet music. Found my room completely trashed when I got back last night, and guess what the only thing missing was?"

Matt merely grunted.

Folding his arm back over his chest, Leo returned to his slouched position in the corner. "Look all you want, odds are that yours is gone, too. And now, we get to work for pennies to the dollar, or else we'll be known as a band who doesn't keep our contracts, and I'll bet you anything that Alex's got his copies locked up tighter than the Zootopia National Bank's vault. Oh, and we have to work for him for… How long was it again?"

"Five years." Mac didn't even look at the papers before responding. He did glance at Cameron as the other wolf began chuckling humorlessly.

The pianist shrugged. "Hey, it'll be the longest lasting job I've had in the past decade, at least!"

The percussionist across from him nodded sagely. "Ah, right, the curse."

"The curse." Cameron affirmed.

A large paw collided with his face as Leo shook his head. "The curse…"

To say that Judy was confused was an understatement. "The curse?"

"The curse." The room's occupants reaffirmed.

Before the bunny could query further about the mysterious 'curse' that everyone else in the band seemed aware of, the freezer's door slid open. Outside stood a _very_ smug looking weasel, framed by his two boar bartenders. "Alright, my little songbirds, it's showtime!"


	4. Chapter 4

**What's this? A new chapter out in just over a week? Madness!**

 **Or, motivation. Take your pick.**

 **Thanks again for all who read/favorite/follow this story; you guys are awesome.**

 **Thanks also to Selaxes, Combat Engineer, and PixeLPaladin for the reviews!**

 **And without further ado...**

* * *

"Are you sure that this is our man?"

Carmelita sighed, rubbing at the growing pressure in her temples. The headaches had been coming more frequently as of late – one of the side-effects of the stress of her job. When she'd first arrived in Zootopia, she'd impressed the likes of Lionheart and Bellwether with her dedication to policing, tracking down and apprehending criminals with a passion, even though it hadn't been her job at the time. With their influence, she'd managed to set up Zootopia's first and primary security force, quickly employing many stalwart and dedicated likeminded mammals, who let nothing come between them and accomplishing their assigned tasks.

Not even the five crimes in progress they passed along the way to their assigned task.

It was this single-minded drive which had, if not directly caused, at least _added_ to Carmelita's current stress with their employ. They were good at their jobs, true, dedicated and loyal, but lacked any form of initiative outside of following orders. Their negligence in following up on un-directed means of inquiry and investigation had inadvertently led to such situations as the one that she was in now, which in turn meant that she was no closer to tracking down that one blasted criminal who had led her to the subaquatic city in the first place.

It also led to her making use of sources outside of her employ, such as the one currently standing in front of her desk.

Her cousin gave Carmelita his infuriating trade marked smirk, half-lidded emerald eyes momentarily dropping to the photos spilled across her desk. There were days when she wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face, but no matter how many lectures on civic duty she gave to him, he'd always twist her words about, and when wordplay was involved, Carmelita had never been able to beat Nicholas Wilde.

The tod merely shrugged, looking back up at his cousin. "If my source says that he is, then that's good enough for me. That, and the photo's _do_ look pretty damning."

"And that source would be…?"

If anything, Nick's infuriating smirk grew even _smugger_. "Think of him as a concerned citizen who wishes to stay anonymous." If there was one of Nick's traits that Carmelita actually found _admirable_ , it was his strict adherence to his odd code of honour; never once had he given up a source who had requested anonymity, no matter what threats, bribes, or pleas were made.

"Very well." Leafing through the photographs on her desk, Carmelita couldn't help but shake her head. "Por los sacerdotes… It's all here, alright." Covert photographs had been taken of a series of handoffs throughout the city – nervous business owners or clerks handing over wads of banknotes to one of a group of meerkats, or, in one case, the money being taken from the till as who could only be the owner was pinned to the wall by a fierce looking boar. The other photographs were less blatantly incriminating, but when paired with the others, still fairly damning – the meerkats, either solo or in combinations of their group, meeting up with and handing their briefcases over to a weasel at various points around the city, but primarily down in the Warren. Looking up at her cousin, she stood from her desk, the grating screech as the chair scraped over the floor adding to her already throbbing headache. "On their own, these won't be worth the paper they were printed on in court, but they give us probable cause. Let's give this Mister Kleftis a visit, shall we?"

As she made her way to the door, Carmelita suppressed a smirk of satisfaction as she saw her cousin's expression twitch.

"You don't expect me to come along, do you?" He hurried to catch up to his cousin before the elevator at the end of the hall closed behind her. "You _do_ realize that I'm not working for you, right?" Carmelita merely maintained a neutral expression until the door opened once more.

Claws clacking against the hardwood floor as she strode towards the exit of the precinct, Carmelita barked at her various subordinates. "Higgins, Antlerson, Glidewell, McCloskey, you're with me!"

The two of the hippos in the office shared confused looks, before turning to the Inspector. "Which one of us, ma'am?"

"Both of you." The vixen paused at the doorway to the street, looking back at her cousin with a smirk. "And if Detective Wilde tries to not take part in the raid, you have my permission to place him under arrest."

"Under what charges?" Bearing a bored expression, Nick casually sat on the desk of one of her officers. "You've got nothing on me, cous'."

"Breaking and entering, as well as trespassing." Carmelita's smirk grew as Nick's jaw dropped, a bewildered look of confusion clear on his normally impassive face. "Several of those photos were taken inside the stores, after hours, if the clocks in them are anything to go by, and since you won't tell me who took them, I can only assume it was _you_."

Storming out of the precinct after the small group, Nick glared at his cousin's back as she and her force made their way through the streets of Zootopia. "That's blackmail, and you know it."

"Hardly." Carmelita smiled as they passed deeper into the city; everywhere she looked, businesses were thriving, mammals were happily chatting with one another, or going about their business. Those that saw the city's Chief of Security with her staff quickly got out of her way, eyeing the group as they passed. In all, law and order prevailed above all else under her supervision. "Think of it as ensuring your protection." Opening a side service door, Carmelita led her troops off the main thoroughfares of Zootopia, instead taking the shorter, less well known paths. Several of her officers had to duck under the pipes overhead, a dull _thunk_ echoing down the hallway as Antlerson failed to spot one in the low lit gloom. "You're an informant for us, Nick, and I'd hate to have Kleftis' goons take their revenge on you while you're wandering Zootopia defenseless. This way, I can keep an eye on you while ensuring your safety."

Dripping water and the thudding of footsteps were the only sounds to fill the hallway for several seconds before Nick once more spoke. "I see how it is." Carmelita fought to supress the rising of her hackles; Nick had spoken in a tone of voice she'd long ago learned meant that she'd lost this verbal sparring match. "Forcing me to join you against my will by threat of force while you're on your way to arrest someone for forcing others to pay him against their will by threat of force. Quite the hypocrite you've turned into, cous'."

And just like that, the good feelings she'd had at seeing Zootopia vanished. "Quiet," she snapped, her tail bristling, "we're getting close. Don't give us away." She instantly regretted looking back over her shoulder to see if he understood; Nick made an over the top zipping motion across his mouth, before throwing the most unprofessional, cross-eyed salute the vixen had ever seen.

* * *

While the Warren could never claim to be a lively place, evenings in the oldest district of Zootopia found the halls mostly barren of life. Residents with families tended to stay in their quarters, finding what happiness they could with one another, while those in bachelor apartments tended to get what little sleep they could before their next day of either sixteen-hour work days at less than living wage, for those who were fortunate, or fruitless job hunting, for those who weren't. Those that braved the halls at night travelled either very quickly to their destination, or in groups for fear of the less-than-savory characters who made the Warren their home.

Which is how, late one evening down a side hallway, no-one noticed as an access panel was booted open, allowing a uniformed vixen to jump out into the hallway, pointing her pistol first one way and then the other before barking out "Clear!"

From the opening behind her poured a small flood of similarly garbed guards, several of whom almost entirely filled the hallway. As the force made their way deeper into the Warren, the last member of the group spoke up.

"Right, because my logic will draw attention to us, but the parade? _Never!_ "

"What did I say, Wilde?" Not bothering to decipher the grumbles at the back, Carmelita stopped just before another junction, glancing down both corridors; aside from the zebra child who briefly poked her head out from her family's quarters before being drawn back in, the door shutting with an audible _clang_ , the coast was clear. Closing her eyes, Carmelita briefly drew up the mental map that she had of the city, recalling as best she could where her quarry would be. Looking behind her, she signalled for one the hippos, the gorilla, and the moose of her entourage to take the left path, while she, the other hippo, the Bengal tiger, and Nick would forge straight ahead.

Apparently not getting the numerous messages about remaining silent, Nick chose this time to once more speak up. "As much as I love touring the slums at midnight – and I don't. At all. In the slightest. Thought you ought to know – _why_ are we here _now_?"

"Quiet!" Rounding the corner, Carmelita spotted the rest of her troop rounding the other end of the hallway. Nodding at McCloskey, the two groups converged on the open doorway halfway down, from which the last strains of music could be heard playing. Signaling for the Higgins brothers to stay posted at the corners, she quickly peered around the doorframe.

The establishment was far more popular than she had been led to believe. When her attention had first been brought to the actions of Mister Kelftis several weeks earlier, initial scouting had reported that the bar that he primarily operated out of was little more than a sodden dive, patron only to those who were tempted by the cheap prices of his even cheaper alcohol. Since then, Carmelita had spent more of her energy keeping tabs on Kleftis himself and his associates rather than his base of operations; an error in judgement she vowed never to make again, looking through the crowded establishment.

* * *

"Don't stop me now! Don't stop me, I'm having a good time, I don't want to stop at all."

As the last strains of music came from the band behind her, underneath her smiling exterior Judy felt sick. She hated lying; to herself, to others, it didn't matter. And singing these songs, songs of hope and joy and the wonders of life while trying her best to look like she meant it felt like she was lying to all the mammals who listened to her.

True to expectations, her contract had also vanished from her room, and along with it all hopes that the band had of getting away from the _Siren's Call_. They'd wracked their brains, trying to come up with a way to escape, but short of burning down the _Siren_ and likely the entire Warren around them, they couldn't do so without discrediting the band, and doing so would surely sink any chances that they had of getting hired elsewhere.

And so, for the past week, the band played on, and she sang her lies. Smiling out to the audience, she bowed, wishing them a good night. _Only one thousand, eight hundred and thirteen more days to go… unless Alex changes the contract again._

Passing behind the bar, where once again both boars were working tonight, Judy stopped, hand on the door handle to the bands room. Leo almost bumped into the bunny, but managed to shift his weight and feet in time to avoid stepping on their singer. "What's the matter, love?"

"I'm going to try talking to him again."

Sighing as he shook his great maned head, Leo cast a pitying glance at her, sliding open the door as he did so "It's not going to do us any good."

"It's better than sitting around doing nothing!" Knowing that it wasn't the lion in front of her that she was angry at, Judy bit her tongue on what she was going to say next. Looking up at her friend, she took a breath. "Sorry, but it's true. He has to listen to reason! What sort of animal thinks that what he's doing is okay?"

"Alex?" Cameron looked back at Mac as he stopped by the band room door.

"Alex." The other wolf affirmed, before the two turned to Judy.

"Alex."

Mouth pressed into a firm, thin line, Judy glared at the backs of the wolves as they vanished into the band's cave. With a huff, she spun on her heel, storming past both Matt and the two boars. Judy was halted as the door to Alex's office opened, spilling forth the trio of meerkats who had become semi-regular visitors of Alex. The two in front ignored Judy as they made their way out from behind the bar, while the third eyed the bunny as he passed.

Judy returned the favour. So much so, that she failed to notice the weasel behind her until he spoke up. "What do you want, my little… chickadee?"

Suppressing a shudder, Judy was about to give her 'boss' a piece of her mind, but chaos erupting from the front room threw her plans asunder.

* * *

Having visual contact on three of her targets emerging from the back, Carmelita sprang into the room, pistol drawn and pointed at the trio of meerkats.

"Zootopia Security! Nobody move!"

Of course, nobody listened. Nobody _ever_ listened. The late night patrons of the bar, for the most part, panicked and stampeded towards the door. The meerkat in front joined the panicked throng, disappearing out the door to the bar before Carmelita could stop him, while the other two scurried back behind the bar.

Carmelita smirked as she heard surprised shouts ringing from the corridor; while she _had_ asked for nobody to move, she hadn't expected it, and found that two hippos backed by a moose and a tiger did a fairly good job of clogging the corridors, ensuring that no witnesses or criminals could escape. While that dealt quite neatly with the troubles outside the bar, there were still those within to deal with.

"McCloskey!" The vixen barked at her lieutenant. "Cover!"

The gorilla nodded as he forged through the thinning crowd and gripped the edge of a table. He strained for a moment, cords in his neck bulging as his muscular arms wrenched at the table, but in a matter of seconds the bolts securing it to the floor had torn loose, and he flipped the table onto its side.

The cover came not a moment too soon; with the last of the patrons having vacated the premises, the two boars behind the bar appeared over the counter, opening fire on the security force with a pair of .45 caliber submachine guns that they'd had stashed behind their cover.

Carmelita felt the thud of each bullet as it ate away at the table. Blind firing over the top of the table, the vixen heard her lieutenant cry out. Glancing at the gorilla, the ape merely hunkered down deeper behind cover, grimacing at his superior as he clutched at his arm. "It's but a flesh wound, ma'am!"

"So, is this how _all_ of your plans turn out, or just ones that involve me? Because if so, I'm flattered, but there are easier, and less painful, ways of getting rid of me."

"Shut it, Wilde!" As the enemy fire cut out, Carmelita cautiously peered around the edge of her cover, only to quickly retreat once more as the gunfire continued. "How much ammo do they have back there?!"

The fox next to her merely reclined against the table, seemingly unaffected by the small fragments of death flying through the air around him. "Did I ever tell you what my favourite kind of whiskey was, cous'?"

Carmelita gave her cousin a _what the fuck?_ look as the tod examined his claws without a care in the world, scratching at an imaginary speck of dust under one of them.

"No?" Nick continued, looking his cousin in the eye. "Thought you might want to know, as my birthday's coming up and all."

"It's six months away! Is now really the best time to be talking about this?"

Nick merely shrugged, his emerald gaze piercing into her own brown eyes. " _Shocking_ , I know, but I've always been a fan of… _Fireball!_ " Springing out from behind the table, Nick rolled across the floor. The boars behind the bar split their focus; one turning to track Nick, while the other kept the officers pinned behind their bullet riddled table. As Nick came up from his roll, however, one paw was engulfed in flame. Pulling back, he wound up in a classic pitcher stance, and threw a glob of fire at the two boars before rolling back across a still upright table, taking what minimal cover he could from it as the hail of lead resumed.

With a contemptuous ease, the boars behind the counter sidestepped the approaching projectile, letting it crash against the back wall.

The back wall where all of the alcohol was kept.

Almost instantaneously, the entire section of the wall was engulfed in flame, with more of the liquid fire spilling onto and across the floor. Smoke roiled up, and the bartenders dropped down, coughing to clear the smoke from their lungs.

"What did you do!" Aghast, Carmelita observed the smoke pouring from the bar's back before turning back to her cousin, livid. "We need them alive!" Her fury only increased as Nick kept his eyes locked on the rolling black waves of smoke, holding up a finger.

"Wait for it…"

"For _what?_ "

Nick's smug smirk was back as he turned to look at his cousin. "You'd think that an open fire in a closed space underwater would be bad, right?" As if on cue, the all of the fire sprinklers in the bar went off; while it didn't instantly extinguish the flames, they were steadily being supressed. The tod brushed the wet fur out of his eyes as he gave Carmelita that smug look she was growing to hate _so_ much. "Shocking how well that worked. Just… _shocking_."

The vixen stared at her cousin for a moment before gripping the bridge of her nose, drawing a deep breath. "Just so we're clear; I had this all under control, Wilde." Focussing on her other hand, she felt a slight tingle begin to build underneath her fur as she stood from behind the table.

"Of course you did; I was just giving you a helping hand. After all, that's what you brought me along for, right?"

Although she would never admit it, Carmelita was glad that one of the goons from behind the bar poked his head over the counter at that moment; it gave her an outlet for her ever increasing aggravation. Pointing her paw at him, the vixen felt a thrill run through her as a bolt of lightning leapt from her outstretched limb, arching through the air before lancing to the boar. The boar in question stood bolt upright, muscles spasming out of control as his nerves were overloaded, and if the stereo jabbering from behind the counter was anything to go by, the other bartender was also momentarily out of commission.

Intending to apprehend the criminals then and there, Carmelita was drawn short as a great hand wrapped around her arm. "Chief!" McCloskey blurted out, "You could get shocked, too!"

Before she could respond, a whip lashed from behind the officers, wrapping itself around the neck of the visible bartender. The boar could only manage a confused "Glurk?" before the cord pulled tight, bashing his head against the bars sill.

"Well, that's one out of commission."

"Constable Neyla!" Carmelita stood, leveling her gaze at her subordinate. "Why have you abandoned your post?"

Unaffected by her superiors look, the Bengal tiger shrugged. "The others have everything well in hand, and it looked like you could use the help."

"That's no excuse for this dereliction of duty!"

A groggy voice broke into their conversation. "You… _assholes!_ " Turning, the officers saw the other boar on his feet, unsteady, and pointing his gun at them. "Fuck-!"

A great roar shook through the bar as a blur of brown fur burst from a door off to the side. Focussed as he was on the security force in front of him, the boar didn't even had time to turn to the new threat before he was pinned to the floor by several hundred pounds of grizzly bear. "You don't threaten our new friends!" Matt scolded, making a show of displaying as many teeth as he could mere inches away from the boar's snout.

"Also," the calmer voice of Leo spoke out as he stepped on the boar's arm that was inching towards his dropped gun, "they are ladies. One does not _swear_ in the presence of ladies." Sparing a glance at the officers, the lion nodded in greeting. "I assume you're here for Alex?"

Squinting at the lion, Carmelita nodded. "Indeed. And you know that… how?"

"Subtlety isn't really your strong suit, cous'."

"Shut it, Wilde!"

As she spared a glare for her cousin, Leo chuckled at their antics. "Indeed. But that's beside the point; he's likely back there." The lion thumbed at the back door. "I haven't seen him since the whole fiasco began, and I don't believe there's another exit."

Nodding her thanks, Carmelita leveled her pistol at the doorway in question. McCloskey and Neyla copied her action, while Nick merely rolled a small flame across his knuckles. "Alexander Kleftis!" The vixen barked out, "You're under arrest! Come out with your hands up!"

The door to the back swung open, and Alex stepped out. "I don't think so, fuzz!" Between the officers and the weasel was Judy, one arm wrenched behind her back, with a pistol pointed at her temple. "Let me go, or the cute little bunny gets it!"

"Zootopia's a small place, Kleftis; there's nowhere for you to go." Carmelita kept her gun leveled at the mustelid, but her officers were wavering.

"And who are you calling 'little'? You're practically the same size!"

"You're not helping, Wilde."

The weasel snarled at Nick. "Watch your tone, fluff but! 'Sides, I can head back to the surface; got me a bathysphere stocked with all kinds of plasmids, just ready to sell! Imagine, 'Kleftis Industries; Evolve Yourself Today!'" Shaking the stars from his eyes, Alex glared back at Carmelita. "So yeah, you're gonna let me go now, unless you want this bunny's brains all over your conscience!"

"Funny thing about those plasmids, mate…" The weasel gasped out an affronted 'Hey!' as his pistol flew from his paw, letting go of Judy in his shock. The weapon flew into the waiting paw of a black wolf, who awkwardly pointed the gun at the surprised mustelid. "They're a wonderful thing!" Mac grinned.

Before anyone else could do or say anything, a furious yell tore through the air. Grabbing the paw that had until quite recently held a gun to her head, Judy slipped backwards underneath Alex's arm. Putting her other paw on his elbow, Judy dropped her weight on it, twisting the weasel's arm behind his back as he fell. Pressing his face into the now extinguished alcohol pooled across the floor, Judy pressed her knee into the small of Alex's back, leveraging his arm a bit further, effectively immobilizing the weasel. "Don't!" She shouted down at her former boss, "Ever! Call me cute!"

The silence of the room was only incomplete due to the groans of the downed boars and weasel. Carmelita's security force, shocked by the sudden change in events, and the band, surprised by Judy's hidden wrath, remained silent for several moments.

" _That's_ what you're upset about?!" Cameron blurted out, breaking the quiet.

* * *

 **A/N.**

 **So, an interesting bit of news...**

 **I'm not going to lie. Throughout this story, I have and will have characters spattered who are loosely based on people I know in real life.**

 **One of them is Mac.**

 **In real life, 'Mac' is a coworker of mine. Outside of work, his primary interest (as far as I'm aware) is music. Interactions with him that I've had made me think that he'd probably be a wolf in Zootopia, and also an excellent 'partner' for a character I'd already intended on having in there, Cam. Hence his inclusion in the band.**

 **The thing is, when I initially wrote him in, A) As far as I know, he's never seen Zootopia, B)Had never played Bioshock, and C) Again as far as I know doesn't visit this site.**

 **Which is why it was a shock when the day after I'd posted his debut chapter, he A) Wolf howled at me in greeting, B) Informed me that he started playing Bioshock the day before, C) used the break room table as a drum kit, and D) brought up the topic of 'the curse' (an inside story that we hadn't talked about in around, oh, a month?)**

 **So, either A) I seriously misjudged him and his interests, in which case 'Sorry, Mac!', B) I know him a lot better than I'd ever imagined, or C) MY WRITING AFFECTS THE VERY FABRIC OF THE SPACE/TIME CONTINUUM!**

 **Or D), the most likely, it is the strangest coincidence that has happened to me lately.**

 **Just a funny anecdote I thought I'd share with you all.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Once again, thank you to all you crazy people who read/follow/favorite/review this fic of mine!**

 **And now, without further ado...**

* * *

If the group which had travelled to the underbelly of Zootopia not an hour earlier had been a sight to behold, the one that returned was downright bizarre.

Eschewing the maintenance tunnels for the return trip, Carmelita led her entourage along the main paths, first of the Warren and then through Zootopia proper. Her force had been split in three; Carmelita and her cousin led the ragtag group of officers, civilians, and criminals, while McCloskey and one of the Higgins brothers brought up the rear, ensuring that none fell behind. Antlerson, Glidewell, and the remaining Higgins brother stayed behind at the _Siren's Call_ ¸ securing and cataloguing the recent scene of conflict.

"So, they've got Alex and his cronies; why do we need to come along?"

"Well," Leo rumbled as he strolled along with his bandmates, "I imagine the constables are wanting statements from all of us."

"Alex was a prick, basically kept us as slaves. Statement done."

Leo frowned down at the pianist. "Don't be difficult, Cam; there are official channels and regulations that need to be followed; signed statements, alibi's and witnesses, names taken for official records-"

The large lion was cut off as the smaller wolf's eyes lit up, the pianist standing bolt upright with a gasp. "Official records of our names? Then I shall become Baron Felix Amadeus Benvenuto von – Ow!" The wolf was silenced by a large paw smacking him upside the head. Sullenly glaring at the band leader, Cameron grimaced. "I was kidding!"

Leo merely shook his head with a sigh, casting his gaze at the rust-pitted ceiling. "For once in your miserable excuse for a life, please, _please_ try to take things seriously."

The chastisement he had just received seemed to have been completely forgotten as Cam perked back up. "Hey! That was almost a joke!" Sidling over to Mac, Cam through his arm across the other wolf's shoulder as he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Our young cub is growing up so fast!"

Not able to resist smiling at the antics of her fellow musicians behind her, Judy shook her head as she trailed after the two foxes leading the party. Looking around, her smile grew even wider as she once more took in the city around her. After so long down in the Warren, Judy had almost forgotten how magnificent Zootopia proper was. Even despite the late hour, the city practically hummed with life. Instead of the sporadically flickering lights that lit the city underneath the city, a dull glow illuminated the immaculately clean avenues of Zootopia, lit low to signify the time of day while providing ample illumination for the city's nocturnal inhabitants. And the mammals were actually cordial with one another! There were no furtive glances being thrown about, no-one scurrying about for fear of the other denizens, instead giving way to late night groups ambling along the open corridors, or couples cuddling before the great panes showing the scenery outside the city. The soft music which was pumped through hidden speakers was definitely an improvement from the echoing metallic groans and watery drips that resonated throughout the Warren.

All too soon, by Judy's estimation, was the journey cut short as the group arrived at Carmelita's offices. Never one to shirk her duties, however, Judy straightened her outfit as best she could before following the officers into the building.

* * *

The interviews went surprisingly quickly; the trio of meerkats were quick to sell out Kleftis for a reduced sentence, while most of the bar's patrons had been oblivious to what had been going on behind the scenes. The band had taken the longest, as they each gave detailed accounts of what had been going on, as far as they knew. Cameron's interview, much to Leo's chagrin, took the longest.

"You're not a Baron," the lion had given the wolf a pointed look as Cameron had been taken in for his interview. Despite his acknowledging nod, before the male fox conducting the interview could firmly close the door, Cam was heard loudly proclaiming his supposed royalty. Judy was fairly certain that the poor lion was about to have an aneurism when, as the door reopened, the fox swept a bow, thanking 'his excellency' for his cooperation in the matter.

Fortunately, Cam's had been the last interview of the band's members, and as they were once again united, the group headed for the exit, when a voice from behind called them up short.

"Miss Hopps, the inspector would like a word with you." Glancing first back at the officer who'd spoken, Judy turned back to the band, a look of worry working its way across her features.

"Don't worry, love," Leo knelt to pat a paw on her shoulder, "we'll be here when you get back."

"See if you can snag any of her doughnuts!" The two wolves snorted back their laughter before shrinking under the withering gaze of their band leader.

"Go on, now."

Taking only a moment to give her friends a grateful smile, Judy spun about, hustling back towards the open elevator door. As the machine lifted her up higher into the building, however, it felt as though her insides were plummeting ever deeper. Absently chewing on her lip, Judy gulped as the elevator doors slid open with a chime, and the bunny began her journey down the corridor, heartrate increasing as she approached the redwood door at the end.

Pushing open the door, Judy nervously glanced about the office. To the left, the wall was covered in cork boards, each displaying maps of different sectors of the city, candid photographs of mammals, several wanted posters, and pages of scribbled notes. Underneath the boards, closest to the door, was a faded green couch, next to a low set of filing cabinets. To her right, a series of large windows overlooked the streets of Zootopia below. In front of her was a wooden desk, set with neat stacks of paperwork next to an old typewriter. Sitting behind the desk, however, was the figure that drew Judy's attention, and caused her to let out a nervous gulp: Carmelita Montoya.

Hearing the click of the door opening, the Inspector in question looked up, eyes immediately locking on the rabbit. Much to Judy's relief, a smile graced the vixen's visage. "Miss Hopps!" The inspector stood from behind her desk, walking around to extend her hand towards her guest. "It's good to see you again, even if it is under such unfortunate circumstances."

Judy merely shrugged as she accepted the vixen's proffered paw. "I'm just glad that I was able to be of some help."

"You were more than just 'some' help!" Carmelita shook her head as she casually sat on her desk. "It would appear as though I underestimated you when we first met."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it by now." Judy's active mind recoiled as her mouth spoke before she had a chance to think, let alone taper the slight bitterness of her tone.

A frown crossed over Carmelita's features. "You shouldn't have to be; not up top, and definitely not down here. It's stigma's like these that Zootopia was built to get rid of, not enforce." Standing, the fox began pacing in front of her desk. "And as fortuitous as it was to have Kleftis underestimate you as well, I have to ask; why _were_ you at the _Siren's Call_?"

Judy blinked a couple times at the fox before answering. "It's like I told the interviewing officer downstairs; I work there."

The inspector's frown grew more pronounced as she pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "I suppose it's my fault for not being more clear; why were you _working_ there? I thought I sent you to my cousin's agency. From what I saw tonight, I'd say you are more than capable of handling the rigours of the job there."

"Ah! Sorry!" Grimacing, Judy nodded. "Yes, you did, but I never had a chance to even apply; the office was never open."

"Is that so?" As the inspector turned to frown at one of the rear corners of her office, Judy drew back in surprise; a fox that she hadn't noticed in her initial sweep of the room shifted in his slouched position as the vixen leveled her glare on him.

"What can I say?" The fox drawled, half heartedly shrugging. "I've been a busy boy."

"Well!" The grin that the inspector now sported was far more confident than the friendly one she'd given Judy when the rabbit had first entered the office, and a fair bit more sinister as well. "Sounds like you could use some help, then."

"Oh, no, I have things handled perfectly well, thank you."

"So much so that your office has been closed for… how long?" The last was directed at Judy.

"At least a month," the doe happily supplied, ignoring the glare that the tod was giving her.

Turning his glare back to his cousin, the fox huffed as he crossed his arms across his chest. "My business, my say, and I say I'm fine, thank you very much."

Carmelita gazed up at the ceiling, affecting a look of mild concentration. "Let's see, one month of rent, add to that the business licences and food, and subtracted from a net income of zero customers… _How_ are you paying for your expenses again, Nick?" Looking back at her cousin, Carmelita quirked an eyebrow. "Or should I talk to Bellwether about your financial situation?"

Expression growing a bit desperate, Nick flung an arm out at Judy. "Come on, look at her! She's a bunny!"

Any playfulness in the vixen's expression vanished at her cousins exasperated response. "Very astute, Wilde, I can see why you've been in so much demand." Stalking towards the cornered mammal, Carmelita's tone grew more heated. "Yes, she's a bunny, and one who's had martial arts training, if that pin she had Kleftis in has anything to say about it. And yes, she's a bunny, who no-one would expect for undercover missions. And yes, she's a bunny, and that sort of social stigmata is _not welcome in my city!_ " Huffing as she now stood, nose to nose with the cornered fox, Carmelita's fiery gaze pierced into Nick's emerald eyes. "So tell me again why you won't hire her; I expect a damn good reason, not this pile of shit you've been dealing out."

Shrunk as he was underneath his cousin's glare, Nick's lips drew back in a silent snarl. "Fine," he spat, switching his gaze to the rabbit still in front of Carmelita's desk. "I'll see you at the office at eight tomorrow; you'd better be worth it, rabbit, and _you_ ," his glare snapped back to Carmelita, "owe me one."

"Like hell I do!"

It was at this point that Judy decided it would be most prudent to vacate the premises, before the row between the cousins grew any more heated. Blurting out a quick "Thanks!", to who she wasn't sure, Judy slid out of the door, the argument muffled but audible even through the thick wooden obstacle. Leaning back against the wood, Judy let out a sigh, hand on her chest as she gazed off into space in front of her.

"What did I just get myself into?"

* * *

As the elevator door slid open once more, Judy was greeted to a room half-full of officers going about their work, and Leo, standing sharp by the front door. Locking gaze with the doe, the large lion beamed, striding towards her. "Is everything alright, love?"

"Better than alright, I think?" Brow furrowed in a look of bewilderment, Judy nevertheless smiled up at the lion in front of her before casting a look about the room. "Where's everyone else?"

Kneeling in front of her, Leo gave Judy a concerned look. "They've gone back to the bar to try and get our instruments back from the police. We may be unemployed now, but we're still musicians, after all!" Seeing the look of slight embarrassment cross Judy's face at that, the lion's expression grew even more concerned. "Judy? You can talk to me. Is everything alright?"

Judy sighed as she looked into the large lion's eyes; if she was honest with herself, she was glad that the others weren't here for this conversation. As much as she loved everyone else in the band, she'd always felt closest to the feline, and wasn't sure if the others would understand her current dilemma. "I… might have got another job?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Judy was worried what the lion's reaction would be. Anger? Confusion? Betrayal? The worry that had been building in her chest abated slightly as he nodded, a sad smile gracing his muzzle. "Well, I can't say as I'm surprised. Part of the police now?"

Shaking her head, Judy cocked her head to the side. "No, the inspector's cousin runs a P.I. Agency. What did you mean by that?"

Leo chuckled as he stood, gaze soft as he looked down on the doe. "Love, I've been playing music for the better part of three decades. When he came down here, all Matt had was the clothes on his back and his bass. And you've seen how Mac uses everything around him as a drum kit; he even walks to a beat only he can hear! Even Cameron, he practices the piano for hours each day. You? You've got natural talent with that voice of yours, but you don't _live_ for the music like the rest of us do." The lion shook his head as he began escorting Judy towards the door. "I can't say that I won't be sad to see you go, as that would be a lie, but I _do_ understand it." Holding the door open for Judy, the lion slowly kept pace with the significantly smaller rabbit as they made their way back down Zootopia's avenues. "We made do before, and I'm sure we'll survive again. Who knows, we may even get out of the Warren, with the attention we've been getting lately!"

"Thanks, Leo." The odd pair walked in silence for a while after that, absorbing the ambiance of the city around them.

* * *

The rabbit that made her way through the Warren the next morning was nearly unrecognizable as the specimen from the night before. Gone was the air of resigned acceptance barely disguised under a guise of optimism, replaced instead by a mien of cautious confidence. Instead of a slinky black ensemble meant to invite the imagination as to what lay hidden beneath, Judy instead wore one of her few other outfits; a dark brown dress which trailed almost down to her ankles, topped with a white collar, which rested beneath a lighter brown trench coat, while her purse was slung over her shoulder, straps tightly in her grasp – it was an outfit tailored more for function than fashion.

Reaching the merging point of the Warren and Zootopia proper, Judy glanced briefly into a pawn shop as she passed; according to the clock in the display window, she still had half an hour until she was due to meet her new employer at the office. Nodding to proprietor of the business as she passed, Judy continued along her way.

While not unreasonably early, the city was still only just waking up as Judy made her way along. Apart from a few 24-hour businesses and stores geared towards the city's nocturnal denizens, most of the businesses she passed were still dark, with a few bleary-eyed mammals puttering about inside, preparing for the day. Passing by one early morning café, the doe was tempted to stop in for a quick bite for breakfast, but the line of apparently like-minded mammals inside dissuaded her from doing so; having seen her new boss's unfriendly demeanor first hand yesterday, Judy didn't care to earn any more of his ire. Looking at the clock behind the counter inside, Judy sighed; with only twenty minutes until work, she _definitely_ didn't have time to brave the line up.

Arriving at the agency office with five minutes to spare, Judy took a moment to gather herself, tugging at her jacket and smoothing out wrinkles on her dress. As she did so, Judy eyed the door in front of her; a plain wooden door with a pane of frosted glass in the window, the only real distinguishing feature about it was the logo. Inside a rectangle of clear glass set at a jaunty angle, there was a caricature of a fox whom Judy now recognized as resembling her employer, Mr. Wilde, dressed in a jester's outfit, jangly hat and all. Set in opposite corners, where a playing card's value would normally be set, were a pair of vibrant green eyes, seeming to glow with a light of their own when compared to the darkness behind them. Lastly, curving around the central figure in a rather blocky print, 'Wilde Card Detective Agency' was proudly proclaimed for all to see.

Looking at the emblem, Judy frowned, peering behind it, through the small portion of clear glass. _Of course he's late._ The doe shook her head, leaning against the doorway; none of the lights inside were on.

After waiting ten minutes for her errant employer, Judy tried the door, just in case. Unsurprisingly, it was locked, and there was no answer when she knocked. Another five minutes passed before the doe marched first to one end of the short alleyway, and then to the other, but from neither vantage point could she see the form of an approaching fox. A further ten minutes later found the bunny crouched in front of the door, a pair of toothpicks in paw and inserted into the lock on the door.

 _What am I even doing?_ The doe looked up, giving her head a slight shake. _What am I even going to do? It's not like he's sitting in the dark in there waiting for me, even if this does-_ A look of surprised crossed over the rabbits features as she felt a slight bit of give in the lock as – miraculously – the last of the tumblers slid into place. "Well," Judy stood up, brushing off the dust from her knees before opening the door, "What do you know?"

"That you're late."

"Gah!" Leaping back out of the doorway in surprise, Judy clutched at her chest, glaring at the fox sitting at the desk within. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you." The fox, seated with his feet casually slung onto the desk in front of him, didn't look up from the paperback her was reading. "You're late," he stated as he flipped the page.

Judy stared in mute shock, which slowly turned into anger, at the fox in front of her. "The door was locked!"

Mr. Wilde's lips pressed into a firm line, eyes still sluggishly trailing across the page. "Making excuses, I see."

"You didn't answer the door!"

"And now you're trying to shift the blame."

Throwing her paws in the air in exasperation, Judy stormed over to the desk. "I had to pick the lock to even get in, for Pete's sake!"

The fox closed the book, setting it down on the table before resting his paws behind his head, leveling a sleepy look at the rabbit before him. "And finally, admitting to breaking and entering. Are you _sure_ you're cut out for this work?"

Swiping his feet off the table, Judy barely registered the feeling of satisfaction at the look of surprise that briefly crossed the vulpine features before her, as instead her fury began to boil forth. "First, you're not here for a _month_ , and I'm forced to basically work as a slave in a dive bar! Then, when you're forced to give me a chance, you can't even be bothered to let me in, and try and make it seem like it's my fault! It's like you're _wanting_ to see me fail! Is that it?"

Whatever response Judy expected from her short tirade, it wasn't the satisfied smirk that crossed the fox's face. "Yes. Well, not _you_ in specific, but you'll do nevertheless."

"What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Absolutely nothing." That smirk was back on his face, and no amount of Judy's glaring seemed to have any affect on it. "In fact, I'm trying to _help_ you."

"Help me? How is any of this doing anything to _help_ me!"

The fox in front of her heaved an exaggerated sigh as he leaned against his desk. "By breaking you free of your delusions, of course!" Holding up a paw to stave off any protestations, he continued. "Let me tell you a story… A story of a cute little bunny with delusions of grandeur." Ignoring how the rabbit in front of him seethed at the 'c' word, he continued. "A naïve little hick with good grades and big ideas decides, "Hey, look at me, I'm gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing Kumbaya!" only to find, whoopsie: we don't all get along. And that dream of making the world a better place? Double whoopsie: she's stuck in the slums of an underwater fishbowl. And whoopsie number three-sie: no-one cares about her or her dreams. And soon enough, those dreams die, and our bunny sinks into an emotional and literal squalor with no-where to go, because big ol' whoopsie number four: there's no-where _to_ go and no-one to turn to. That sound about right?"

"No!" Despite how eerily correct his assessment was, Judy didn't believe that it was the truth – she _couldn't_. "This is Zootopia! Where anyone can be anything! It shouldn't matter who or what we are –"

Before she could continue, Judy was cut off. "Cut the slogan – I've had it preached to me enough by my goody-two-shoes cousin. Maybe it shouldn't matter, but it _does_." The fox wriggled his shoulders, apparently getting settled into the argument. "Just look at that dive bar of yours, shall we?"

Judy glared suspiciously at the fox before her. "What about it?"

Her question was answered by a shrug. "Well, the bar _and_ the band, I suppose. You say that it shouldn't matter what species we are, that we're more than our stereotypes?" Waiting a second for the rabbit to nod, his grin grew wider. "Who was it we came to arrest for a list of crimes longer than he was tall? Oh, that's right, a _weasel_." Raising an eyebrow at the bunny, the fox continued. "He's hardly breaking the species stereotype, now is he? And how about your band? Now, I never saw nor heard you guys play, but let me guess; Mister Loud-and-Proud Lion was the leader, Tweedles Dumb and Idiot tended to get lost in their own asinine antics, and seeing as winter's approaching, the bear in the back was more interested in sleeping than interacting with anyone off the stage. And finally, even though they had a half-way decent act, they never really got any attention until they had a cute little bunny to be their poster child." Looking fully awake for the first time, Wilde's emerald gaze pierced into Judy's being. "Am I wrong?"

Gritting her teeth, Judy did her best to return her employers stare. "I don't know what your problem is, but you're wrong, and I'll prove it. You don't think anyone's capable of breaking the mold? Just watch me. Don't think that I don't see what you're doing – you're trying to push me away, but listen here, Mr. Wilde; the more you push, the more I'll push back, and I'm. Not. Going. _Anywhere._ "

With the gloom of the office around them, it seemed to Judy as though they were in a world all their own, just the two mammals and their battle of wills. Finally, it was the red fox who broke first, sitting back on the table with a sigh. "Fine." Pushing himself to his feet, the fox made his way around the desk, disappearing into the gloom further back in the office. "If you really want to make yourself useful, then this place could use some cleaning. Also, if you need me, I'll be upstairs. Also, don't come upstairs. When you're done, doors in the wall, don't let it hit you on the way out."

Glaring at the retreating form of the fox as he disappeared into the gloom, Judy huffed. "I'm not just some maid." The rabbit's foot tapped a tattoo on the ground as she peered along the walls, trying to spot a light switch. "I'll run this business myself, if I need to!"

With a soft cry of success, Judy located the switch, flicking it and illuminating the main room of the office. The elation of her small success was quickly washed away as she took in what the rooms lights illuminated. Old newspapers and discarded food wrappers littered the ground, which was covered in caked-on muddy tracks. The table held several half-drunk cups of coffee, and several stacks of what looked to be unsavory books. Judy shuddered as she took a half step back, foot crunching on one of the wrappers on the ground – from the sensation underfoot, some of the detritus still had food contained within.

"Alright," the bunny cringed, looking at the daunting task before her, "perhaps some cleaning _is_ in order."

* * *

It wasn't until her stomach reminded her four hours later that she hadn't eaten all day that Judy deemed the room acceptable enough to take a break. With the garbage cleared from the floor, the desk cleaned off with it's… _literature_ left by the staircase door, the windows cracked open to let the room air out and the floor mopped up ( _Seriously,_ Judy had wondered, _how did he even manage to get mud in here? Where in the city is there even_ dirt _?!)_ , the room was in a much more presentable state than when she'd arrived. Closing the office door behind her, Judy made a note to pick up some proper office supplies, as the office didn't seem to have any.

 _Pens and paper for a start,_ Judy mused as she made her way along the alley towards Main Street, dreaming of the diner she'd passed that morning as she did so. _Folders, too… I'll see if I can talk to Mr. Wilde tomorrow about getting some money for a typewriter and filing cabinet… Speaking of money, how much do I get paid?_

Her musings were cut short as Judy felt a tug on her jacket from behind. Turning, she found herself face to face with a rather distraught looking otter. "You don't…" The otter in question started, then stopped. Taking a breath, she tried again. "You don't happen to work at the detective agency, do you?"

Giving her best reassuring smile, Judy nodded. "Yes, I do." _I don't know if it's just as a glorified janitor or not, but that's beside the point._ "How can I be of help?"

"Oh thank goodness!" The otter hastily opened her purse, digging around in it before drawing out a photo. "It's my husband, Emmitt Otterton." Judy glanced at the photo as it was handed over. It showed what was obviously a loving family; the otter in front of her stood next to an older otter, obviously Emmitt, while in front of the couple stood two young boys. "He's gone missing."

"How long has he been missing?"

"Three days." Mrs. Otterton began wringing her hands, nervously shuffling on the spot. "I know that's not a lot of time, but he's never up and disappeared like this before! Please, you have to help."

Judy nodded, trying to give a compassionate smile to the distraught otter before her. "Of course I will. Where was the last place you saw him?"

Taking a shuddering breath, Mrs. Otterton replied firmly, "At home. Apartment number two-thirty-one in the Minoan Arms in the Knosos Quarter. He was on his way to work; he works as a botanist, but I… I…" Blinking back tears, the otter looked on the verge of having a melt-down. "I don't know where! I'm a terrible wife!"

Quickly wrapping the otter in a hug, Judy gently pat her on the back. "No no no no no! Don't say that, you're a wonderful wife, and a loving mother! We'll find him, I promise!"

Another ragged breath was drawn in by the otter. "Thank you, you sweet bunny! I've… been trying to stay strong for our kids, but… I keep telling them everything's going to be alright, but I think Jack already knows something's wrong, and- "

"You're right, everything _is_ going to be fine." Taking a step back, Judy looked Mrs. Otterton in the eyes. "I promise you, I'll find your husband and bring him back to you. And don't worry about our fees – we'll discuss payment when he's back."

Watching the otter as she once more thanked her before scurrying back down the alleyway, Judy couldn't help but feel conflicted – true, it was awful what the poor woman must be going through, but she finally had a case! Hunger forgotten, the rabbit dashed back into the Wilde Card office, the now clean room only seen in a blur as she bounded towards the stairs at the back. Taking them three at a time, she burst through the door at the top, ecstatic. "I got us a…!" Blinking at the scene in front of her, Judy's jubilation abated, replaced instead primarily by confusion, with a small bubble of anger. "What's going on here?"

Her boss looked up from his position at the table. The table, around which, sat five other animals. How they managed to get in there without her noticing, Judy didn't know, and currently didn't care. What she _did_ care about where the small piles of money on the table, scattered amidst the playing cards strewn across the surface.

"Work." The table's sole fox offered, while leveling a pointed look at the rabbit. "Speaking of which, isn't that what you should be doing?"

Unintimidated, Judy merely folded her arms, glaring back at her employer as her foot started to tap agitatedly on the hardwood floor.

The stare down was interrupted as the koala at the table snorted, nudging the dingo next to him. "Looks like this one has a bit of a backbone!" He boisterously exclaimed. "Might be she has a friend to your liking, eh Wheezy?

The dingo, Wheezy, gave his compatriot an unimpressed look. "And how does she compare to Martha, hmm Gary?" He queried between labored breaths.

Staring off into space for a moment, the koala's face fell slack. "You must never meet my wife, Miss…?"

"Hopps. Judy Hopps."

"She's my new secretary." Wilde stood up, maintaining his glare. "Who seems to have forgotten her place. Shouldn't you be back downstairs?"

Internally sputtering at being called a secretary, Judy's foot picked up it's rhythm. "I was, but then I got us a case. You know, _actual_ work." Smirking at the look that appeared on her employer's face, Judy turned to the other animals at the table. "Sorry, gentlemen, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Collecting their various piles of money as they stood, the assorted animals laughed at Wilde's astounded visage as they left; the dingo and koala headed past Judy towards the stairs, nodding at the rabbit as they passed, while the finely dressed ocelot instead took the door to the side. The raccoon tipped his cap to Judy, before he, too, vanished, but in much less conventional means. A puff of blue smoke seemed to explode from the raccoon, leaving no trace of the mammal when it cleared.

The fox reclaimed his composure, jaw clenched as he glared at the rabbit before him as he took a deep breath. "Dag!" He barked, smacking his paw down on the remaining pile of cash. Much to Judy's surprise, a leathery arm withdrew across the tabletop as its owner, a creature which looked like a miniature winged fox, scurried across the floor from under the table, leaping for the window.

"Don't think I don't recognize marked cards when I see them, Wilde!" The flying fox remarked before he, too, vanished from the room, leaving only the fox and the rabbit.

Judy broke the silence after several awkward seconds. "How is _this_ what you call work?"

The foxes smirk was back as he gave the rabbit a half-lidded look. "Simple. Some of my associates pay me to figure out where their money disappears to each week – more often than not, it's into my pocket. Other times, I have to pay off 'informants' for their information. All perfectly legit, should my _darling_ cousin check in on me." The fox gave the rabbit a quick wink. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart. Normally, I'd come away with a fair bit _more_ money, but _somebody_ decided to cut my afternoon's work short." Any semblance of a smile vanished as he glared at the rabbit. "Care to explain why I shouldn't fire you?"

"Because I got us an actual case! Actual _work_! Isn't that why we're here?"

"No." Wilde stepped forward, poking Judy in the chest, knocking her back a step. " _I'm_ here because this is my business. Mine, not yours. _I_ get to choose which cases I take, _I_ get to decide when I work and when I don't! _You_ overstepped your boundaries!"

Reaching into her purse, Judy withdrew the photo of the Otterton family, shoving it in the fox's face. "Just look!" As the vulpine took a step back from the picture, Judy pressed forward. "Mister Otterton is missing, and his family is worried. His children have been missing their father for half a week!"

Raising an eyebrow at the picture, Wilde casually brushed Judy's arm aside. "Not my problem."

Huffing as she shoved the picture back into her purse, Judy glared at her employer. "What about Carmelita, then? I'm sure she'd love to hear how you're so… uncaring!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the fox shook his head. "What's to say? My workload's full enough as it is!"

"Ah, yes," Judy smirked, "playing poker with a wanted criminal." Feeling satisfaction as her employer cocked his head in surprise, Judy pressed on. "Don't think I didn't recognize that raccoon. He was on one of the wanted posters in her office. Cooper, is it?"

"Ahh…" the fox nodded as he leaned back against the table. "Yes, my cousin's little beloved; do you know how long she's been chasing that ring-tail? Although at this point, I'm pretty sure she just wants him to grab a hold of her tail more than anything else. And as much as I'd love to see the look on her face when she learns that not only did I find him first, but play poker with him on a weekly basis, it's sadly not to be." Affecting a sigh as he shrugged, Wilde gave a theatrically sad look to Judy. "After all, it's your word against mine."

"Actually, Mister Wilde…" Judy grinned victoriously as she pulled the audio diary out of her purse, hitting a small button on the front.

"… _how long she's been chasing that ring-tail? Although at this point, I'm pretty sure she just wants him to grab a hold of her tail more than anything else."_

"I'm _sure_ the inspector would just _love_ to hear what you think about her!" A small giggle burst forth from the rabbit at seeing the fox's slack-jawed expression. "What was it you said? It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

The fox stared, aghast, at the recorder in Judy's paws. Slowly at first, but with rapidly increasing volume, a chuckle issued forth from the vulpine, eventually turning into a full-blown guffaw. Eventually, the fox recovered, wiping a tear from his eye. "Phew, that's a good one! I can't remember the last time someone pulled the rug out from under me like that!" His jolly attitude was quickly suppressed as the fox leveled a serious expression at the lapin. "Only this one case, though. Then I get that blackmail tape back."

Judy looked down at the tape in her paws. There was a spot on the front face to write down information: title of the tape, should the recorder so chose to add one, as well as who made the recording. Fishing out a pen from her purse, Judy scrawled a quick note: _Judy Hopps on Mister Wilde: The Hustle._ Turning her attention back to her employer as she slid the recording into her purse, Judy nodded with a smile. "It's a deal, Mister Wilde."

The fox recoiled slightly, shaking his head as he grimaced. "Please, never call me that again. It makes me feel old. Just call me Nick."

* * *

 **FURTHER ADO TIME!**

 **So, Mac Update:**

 **I still don't know whether I understand him perfectly, or not at all. One moment, he's doing calculus (for fun?!) in the break room, because apparently he has plans on becoming a bio-mechanical engineer, and yet the next time I see him it's all drumming on everything in sight, beat-boxing, Bioshock, and Musicals. Also, he's never seen Zootopia. Thought I meant 'Zoolander' when I asked.  
**

 **I... I just don't know anymore.**

 **Similar note: 1,000 points to anyone who caught the obscure book/movie/musical reference in this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Traditional Pre-chapter Authors Note:**

 **I have more to tell about my apparent re-working of the space-time continuum.**

 **Sadly, it has nothing to do with this chapter, and so will not be included here.**

 **That being said, thanks to all who read, follow, favorite, and review! ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

"So," Judy paused, taking a sip of water to wash down a bite of muffin. The two were in the café Judy had passed earlier, the fox insisting that they get some food in her for fear that if they didn't, passersby would flee in terror, mistaking the rumblings of her stomach for a savage bear.

Judy had not been amused by the comparison, but nevertheless acquiesced.

"Where do we start?" Having washed down her food, Judy looked across the tabletop at her employer. "I figure we go to the Minoan Arms and canvas the neighbours and nearby businesses, see if anyone knew Mr. Otterton and his habits, where he worked, if anyone had any reasons to wish him ill, and work from there. Or, we could talk to Mrs. Otterton again, see if he had any close friends or acquaintances who'd know, rather than just ask willy-nilly. What do you think?"

The fox across from her held up a finger as he tilted his head back, draining the remnants of his drink from the ceramic cup. Letting out a satisfied sigh as he set the cup down, he gave Judy a wry smirk. "Well, Fluff, those are both good ideas, but I have a better one." Pushing himself out of the bench, the fox made a bee-line for the door. "Walk and talk, Hopps, walk and talk."

Hastily shoving the rest of the muffin into her mouth, Judy hustled after her employer, pausing briefly to give a quick shout of 'thanks!' to the cashier.

"You see, Carrots, you're coming to this all fresh and by-the-books – sure, you might get a lead that way, but it'll take time, and that's time I'd rather not spend, seeing as the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back to doing things my way."

Walking down the avenue, Judy almost didn't notice when Nick took a sudden turn. Weaving through the mid-day crowds to catch back up to the vulpine, Judy shot a quick glance back the way that they had come; although she hadn't been in the city as long as the fox, she'd been here long enough to know that the street they were on didn't lead anywhere near the Knosis Quarter, let alone the Minoan Arms. "You know where you're going there, Slick?"

Spinning around to face her, Nick shrugged as he walked backwards. "It's like I said, Fluff; the way you're thinking will take too long. Now me, I know a guy, who knows… _things_ , is the best way to describe it." Turning back front ways with an elaborate spin, deftly avoiding the porcupine in front of him, Nick turned down a connecting walkway, paying no mind when a giant squid pulsed by overhead, outside the glass. "You'd have to see it to believe it."

"That basically describes all of Zootopia…" Judy grumbled as they waited for the metal door at the end of the tunnel to rattle open. When it did, Judy stared in awe at the sight before her, not even noticing Nick's grin at her expression. "How… How is this even possible?"

"I thought that described Zootopia on a whole?" The fox barked a laugh as he stepped forth into the space beyond.

Judy had grown up on a farm, surrounded by plants of various types. With her rudimentary knowledge of flora, even she could tell that what she saw before her shouldn't exist in nature. The area before her was easily as tall as the Welcoming Pavilion had been, but many times as deep, and absolutely packed with plants. Walking in felt as though she were entering an old forest, one that had been firmly rooted for decades if not centuries, not a handful of years. The plant life in this portion was primarily deciduous, akin to what one would find in a temperate rainforest, but not too far away were some plants she _knew_ to be tropical. "What _is_ this place?"

"Well," Nick started as he walked along the cobblestone path, idly kicking a stone which tumbled along into the undergrowth, "Officially, it's called 'Demeter's Grove'. Originally started by some guy named 'Lambart' or something like that, he built it for three reasons. First, because his wife loved gardening, and secondly, it was meant to symbolize the unification of different cultures and species or some such nonsense. Finally, and most importantly, trees produce air. We kinda need that to live down here. All very 'Zootopian Ideal'. There are different atmosphere control thingamajigs scattered about to let different plants from different climates grow together, or close enough." Nick chuckled, shaking his head. "Rumor has it that there's only one type of plant that ol' Lamby couldn't get to grow here, and it was his favourite." Stopping in the middle of a clearing, Nick turned back to Judy, who had been listening with rapt attention. "Anyway, Mrs. Lambart passed away, and the old man, whether due to the memories this place brings up or his grievance with its refusal to grow his favourite plant, left the park mostly to its own devices. Now, it's primarily home to the Up Dogs."

"Who are the Up Dogs?" Judy cocked her head to the side in confusion.

Grimacing slightly, Nick shook his head. "It's not so much a 'who' as a 'what'."

Waiting for the fox to continue, Judy huffed when it became apparent that he'd need more goading than that. "Alright, _what_ are the Up Dogs?"

Giving Judy a flat look, Nick held up a paw, finger and thumb almost touching but not quite. "So close. They're not so much individuals, as a collective."

Letting out an exasperated groan, Judy's ears flopped against the back of her head. "Fine. _Fine!_ What _is_ Up Dogs?"

"NOT MUCH! WHAT'S UP WITH YOU?"

"Gah!" Upon entering the clearing, Judy had assumed that only she and Nick were there, but the answering bellow from all sides made her re-think her assumption. Looking up into the branches of the trees surrounding the clearing, Judy immediately regretted her decision. Surrounding the vulpine and rabbit were dozens of canids in the trees, climbing trunks, hanging from branches, or just reclining among the boughs, several of them somehow clinging to the underside of the mighty limbs. Aside from their species, there was one thing that unified them all. "They're all _naked?_ " Judy hissed at her companion as she slapped a paw over her eyes, heat rising in her cheeks.

"Why, Carrots!" Nick held a paw against his chest as he let out a dramatic gasp, looking at his companion. "This is Zootopia, where anyone can be anything! And the Up Dogs? They be naked." Looking around at the gathered canines, Nick smiled as he spotted one in particular. "Hey, Cheryl!" One of the reclining wolves looked up from the book she was reading. "Yax in?"

"He's back in the Grotto," the wolf responded before returning her attention to the literature before her.

Waving as he continued along one of the paths out of the clearing, Nick called back "Thanks Cheryl! Love ya, owe ya!" The wolf in question merely grunted.

Keeping her gaze firmly planted on the ground before her, it took Judy several minutes before she could compose herself enough to form a coherent sentence. "So, who is it we're seeing?"

Deviating from the path, Nick instead headed alongside a stream that meandered through the forest, following it towards a cliff. Looking at the stone behemoth before them, Judy realized that unlike most of the rest of Zootopia, where they were now walking had likely at one point been the ocean floor, rather than mammal-made. How much time and effort must have gone into claiming this area from the ocean's depth, Judy couldn't even fathom.

"I told you earlier, Fluff, you have to see it to believe it."

As the pair approached the cave, Judy's ears perked up, angling towards the entrance. From within, she could make out a what at first sounded like a faint moaning, but the more she listened to it, the more the rabbit realized it was instead a guttural chanting. The closer the got to the opening, so too did an oddly pungent aroma build, to the point that Judy felt the overpowering urge to sneeze.

The stream pooled inside the cave, filling the entire floor of the cavern, save for a thin, rough-hewn ledge that hugged one wall. The interior of the cave was large, far larger than Judy would have thought it had any right to be from the outside. Devoid of the lights from the city and park outside, the grotto was instead light by bioluminescent algae clinging to the damp walls, letting off a light blue-green glow, illuminating the caverns sole occupant. Dead center of the large lake, seemingly defying the laws of physics as he sat on the waters surface, was a yak. Surrounded by a great cloud of matted hair, and an even greater cloud of flies, the yak sat, chanting, oblivious to his visitors.

Judy waited for Nick to do something, _say_ something, but the fox merely stood there, hands in the pockets of his dark green pants, smugly smirking at the rabbit. Huffing a sigh, Judy stepped as close to the edge of the pool as she dared. "Um, excuse me?" Her voice was so soft compared to the yak's meditative chant, she wasn't sure if he heard her. "Mr. Yax?" She was a bit louder this time, but unless she was mistaken, so too was his chanting. "Hello?" _Yes_ , she figured, _he's definitely getting louder_. Just as she was about to start shouting at the mammal in the water, he silenced, eyes drifting open, revealing the milky white orbs within.

"I have _seen…_ " Because of the acoustics of the chamber, it sounded as though the yak's voice was coming from everywhere at once. "The sunken city shall sink, and all turns to grey. You two, though," the yak's head turned to the pair at the caverns edge, "you will see the light. And _you_ ," despite his apparent lack of sight, Judy had the unnerving sensation that the yak was staring straight at her, "should take up the hustle. It'll show you for who you truly are."

"I… I don't… What?" Ignoring the stifled laughter, Judy glared at the mammal next to her. "You'd better not have wasted our time, Wilde."

Looking at the mammal in the water, the fox let out a shout. "Yo, Yax! You know an Emmitt Otterton?"

Giving his head a shake, the yak blinked and, much to Judy's confusion, looked at them again, only this time his pupil's and iris's clearly evident. "Hey, Nick man! Long time no see! Come to give the naturist lifestyle another chance?"

Nick shook his head, lazy grin back in place. "Not this time, Yax, just looking for Emmitt."

"Old Emmitt, yeah!" Standing from the pool, the yak shook the gathered water from his fur as he started walking towards the edge. "Haven't seen him in a couple days now. What's up with that?"

"How are you doing that?" The yak blinked, seemingly registering Judy for the first time.

"Doing what?"

"Walking on water!"

"Oh, this?" Looking down at his feet, the yak let out a laugh. "It's just really shallow."

Looking down at the surface of the pool before her, Judy's expression fell flat as she looked back at the yak. "What."

"Yeah, totally!" The yak started jumping in place, water splashing around him as he did so.

"What." Looking once more at the water before her, Judy stepped forward, and promptly sank like a stone. Gasping as she frantically pawed her way back onto the ledge, she alternated between glaring at Nick, who was laughing uncontrollably at the soaked bunny, and the yak, who was staring at her blankly.

"Except over there, it's kinda deep there."

* * *

Bundled up in a plethora of towels and blankets, Judy glared at the other two mammals on the ground of the clearing as they chatted.

"Old Emmitt? Yeah, he totally comes by every Tuesday for yoga! Never missed a session before last week. What's up with that?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. Do you know where he might be? Work?"

"Oh, yeah, he'd totally have gone to work! Talks about that place all the time!"

Nick sat, blinking at the yak, mouth pressed in a firm line. "Thanks, Yax, informative as ever. Did he ever mention _where_ he works?"

"Totally, man!" Nodding his great shaggy head, the yak looked up at the domed, glass ceiling. "He worked at Aperture Science, third floor, fourth door on the left. Botanical studies, all hush-hush."

"Do you know if he had any enemies, anyone who wanted him gone?" From deep within her mound of cloth, Judy slowly felt warmth return to her extremities. Despite her chill, though, she still had a case to solve.

"Nuh, bruh, Emmitt was a chill dude, everyone here loved him. Was a real staple of the naturist club. You ever think of joining… uh… Never did get your name."

And just like that, Judy suddenly felt overwhelmed by warmth as a blush rose beneath her fur. "Maida!" She blurted. There was no chance that she'd join the club, and even less of a chance that she give them her real name, should they come looking for her. Not that that would be much help, she realized, as the yak seemed well acquainted with the fox beside her, but that was beside the point. "Maida… Furs? And no, no thank you." Burrowing out from her nest as quickly as she could, Judy latched onto Nick's sleeve, dragging him towards the edge of the clearing. "Thank you for all your help, Mr. Yax, but we really must be going now."

"Peace out, dudes!" The yak was unfazed by the duo's rather abrupt departure, choosing instead to flop on his back, staring at the glass ceiling above.

The pair was barely out of earshot of the clearing before Nick burst out laughing. " _Maida Furs_? Really?"

"I panicked, okay?" Judy defended herself, before launching on the offensive. "And what sort of lead was that? Did you know he knew Mr. Otterton?"

Nick shrugged, head wobbling side-to-side. "In so many words? No. As I said, Yax knows things. Sees things in his visions that no-one else can."

With a groan, Judy slapped a paw over her face. "So your _genius_ lead was a drugged out nude fortune teller?"

"It all worked out in the end, didn't it?" Even with her eyes closed, Judy could hear the smirk on the fox's face. _How does he do that?_ Any remnants of her blush drained, along with the rest of the blood from her face, as another voice spoke up from ahead of them on the path.

"Judy?"

"Cam?!"

"No, haven't you heard? This is Maida."

"Maida?!"

"Nick!"

"What?"

"Who?"

"Argh!" Tugging at her ears, Judy shot a glare at the fox. "You, shush." Turning to the confused wolf, she gave him the most composed smile she could at the moment. "Hi, Cam! How are you?"

The wolf frowned at the doe. "I'm alright, but are you? You're looking a bit ill."

Huffing in annoyance, Judy let her ears flop against her back. "I'm fine, Cam. I've just had a… rather unorthodox day." Mustering a genuine smile, the rabbit thought it pertinent to switch topics. "How've the boys been?"

Shrugging off her earlier edginess, Cam beamed. "Oh, we're all well, got our instruments back and everything. Leo told us about your new job, too! Congratulations!" Much to the bunny's displeasure, her former band-mate ruffled the fur on top of her head. "Oh!" Perking up to the point where he was jumping from foot to foot, Cam's grin grew to an elated, ear-to-ear smile. "Speaking of! I think I've finally broken the curse!"

"Curse?" The vulpine cocked his head in confusion, but Judy merely waved a paw at him.

"I thought I told you to shush." Focussing her attention back to the grey-and-white wolf before her, Judy couldn't resist his infectious enthusiasm. "I guess congratulations are in order for you as well!" As the wolf graciously bowed his head, a pensive frown formed on Judy's features. "How did you manage that?"

With an air of feigned humility and disinterest, Cameron tugged at one side of his vest while examining his claws on the opposite paw. "Well, I figured that if any job down here would be stable, it would be working for the people running the place." All pretenses dropped as the wolf danced in a circle, tail wagging merrily behind him. "I'm a bathysphere pilot!"

"Well, that's good… but what about the band?" Despite having left herself, Judy had hoped that they'd still stick together.

The wolf waved aside her cares with a flick of his paw. "I'll only be working as a pilot full-time until Leo gets something set up, and then I'll be part time. But still! Curse broken!"

Judy was about to respond when she frowned, a sudden thought occurring to her. She looked around at her surroundings, and then back to Cam. "And… you decided to come… _here_ , to celebrate."

Taking stock of his surroundings, the wolf looked at the bunny, eyes wide, ears pinned back against his head and tail tucked between his legs. "I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"Did I hear that the curse has been broken?" The talking duo turned to the newcomer, a female coyote who was strolling along the path. "That's good to hear, Cam! Want me to tell the others, or do you want to tell them yourself?"

"Eehhh…" The wolf flip-flopped a paw as the coyote passed, chuckling. Turning back to the bunny in front of him, he looked, somehow, even more embarrassed. "I may know what you're talking about."

The coyote's voice came from further down the path. "Hey, guys! Cam's curse has been broken!" A cacophony of howling erupted from the clearing.

Cam sighed, shoulders drooping. "Yeah…" A beat passed before his head snapped back up and he squinted at Judy. "Wait… what are _you_ doing here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" The bunny squeaked, before Cheryl walked past, thankfully fully dressed.

"See you around, Maida?"

The pair stood in awkward silence as Nick failed to supress his laughter. After several awkward moments, Judy cut the tension. "I didn't see you here, you didn't see me here. I have no idea you even come here. We had this talk somewhere else."

Cameron nodded. "Probably at the Fishbowl Diner; I go there for dinner most nights." Nodding at the pair, the wolf started edging further into the woods. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Judy, and… meeting… you, Nick. But… yeah. Gotta go."

"Well, he seemed nice."

Glaring at the smug look on the fox's face, Judy thrust a menacing finger at him. "I thought I told you to shush!" Huffing as she stormed along the path, it wasn't until the pair had re-entered Zootopia proper that the bunny realized that she had a bit of a dilemma. "Where exactly is Aperture Science?"

Receiving no response from her travelling companion, Judy was privy to a display of elaborate hand gestures and flailing limbs… None of which she could understand, causing a look of befuddlement to cross her features. "What are you doing?"

The smug expression on her partners' face grew as he gave her a half-lidded look, making the motion of zipping his mouth.

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Judy glared at the fox. "You're being deliberately obstinate, aren't you Mr. Wilde?"

Nick shrugged in response. "I thought you told me to shush."

A smirk of her own appeared on Judy's face as she quirked an eyebrow. "And did I ever tell you that you could start speaking again?"

The fox squinted at the rabbit. "Sly bunny."

"Dumb fox."

A bark of laughter burst from the fox as he shook his head. "To answer your question, good ol' Aperture's centered in the heart of Zootopia's business district, Athena's Alley."

Judy furrowed her brow, trying to think. "I… don't think I've ever even heard of that district."

The fox merely shrugged as he trundled along his merry way, tail weaving behind him. "Can't say as I'm too surprised, fluff; cute little bunny like yourself, pining for police-work and ending up a musician, you've never struck me as the 'science-y' type." Nick cocked his head to the side, ignoring the aggravated noises coming from his companion as he thought for a second. "Then again, never would have pegged Yax for that line of work, but what do you know?"

"Wait, what?" Judy's tirade over the 'c' word was cut off before it even began by Nick's final statement. "Yax is a scientist?" Looking back down the block, she waved a paw in the general direction of Demeter's Grove. "Drugged out naked fortune teller Yax?"

"We-ell…" Nick waved a paw mid-air, flopping it from side to side. "'Scientist' is a bit of a stretch. He was one of the first mammal testers for the plasmids; they're what gives him 'the sight.'"

Judy blinked at the vulpine walking next to her. "You're telling me that there's a plasmid that let's you see the future?"

Nick let out a humorless chuckle. "A-ha ha, no. If there _was_ , everyone'd have won the lottery by now."

"How, then?"

"Patience, my good bunny, patience. I was getting there." By then, the duo had arrived at one of the many bathysphere stations scattered about Zootopia. "See, the early plasmids were less… _refined_ than the ones we have now. Some of them had some fairly nasty side-effects, some of which only came to surface when used in combination with other plasmids." Glancing up at the bathysphere schedule board, Nick directed them towards one of the not-inconsiderable lines of mammals heading to Athena' Alley. "It's why most people only have one plasmid they use, now; sure, they'd probably be fine taking more, but there's that residual 'what if?' factor in play. Yax was one of the lucky ones, and not even _he_ knows what he's doing half the time."

"Yeesh!" Judy cringed at the thought. "And people still use them?"

With a flash of light, a small ball of fire appeared, rolling around the fox's paw. "Sure do, fluff; what we've got now's a lot more stable than what we started out with." Rolling the flame up his arm to the crook of his elbow, Nick thrust his arm out, bouncing the flame to his other paw, which clenched the fire out of existence. "Just need to know how to use them."

The music, which to that point had been little more than background music pumped through hidden speakers for the commuters below, cut out mid-song, replaced instead by a professional, neutral female voice. "Attention citizens," The voice started as the masses below looked up, hunting for the source of the intrusion. "Due to technical difficulties, we regret to inform you that travel by bathysphere is cancelled until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience, but would like to inform you that the Zootopian Transit Railways will remain operational during this time. Thank you, and have a good day."

The citizenry of Zootopia in large grumbled at this. Many of those in line for such travel shouted their complaints, loudest of these being those at the front of the lines. However, it was said that from the lowest point in the Warren to the highest peak of Hermes Heights, that the second loudest sound heard throughout all Zootopia's history was the cacophony of howling laughter that issued forth from Demeter's Grove. The only sound said to have surpassed the exuberant mirth was a lone wolf amongst that merry midst, howling a forlorn "Why!"


	7. Chapter 7

**A new chapter, just in time for Christmas!**

 **...wait, what do you mean I'm a couple of days late? Fine, Happy Solstice!**

 **...A WEEK? Okay... Happy Saturnalia?**

 **...Two MILLENNIA?! Screw it, on with the story already!**

* * *

Built significantly larger than the rivaling bathysphere stations, the Zootopian Transit Railway stations could easily hold several hundred mammals of varying sizes at any one time. Tall enough that even the tallest giraffe would not need to duck, great glass panels formed most of the room's walls and arched ceiling, allowing occupants broad views of the city, as well as affording the waiting mammals visual assurance of approaching transit cars. Information placards hung over both sets of partially submerged tracks, displaying arrival and departure times for the alternate directions of travel routes. Hung in the dead center of the room, dominating the air-space between the tracks, a great clock hung, faces decorated with intricate wrought iron.

It was this last object that held captive the attention of a certain rabbit amidst the throng of mammals below. The foot of said rabbit thumped an irritated tattoo against the black-and-white checkerboard marble floor.

"Relax, Carrots," drawled the rabbit's companion as he lounged against one of the many benches scattered throughout the concourse.

"Relax?" The grey and white furred lapin bit back a humorless laugh. "Right, like I'm sure Mrs. Otterton has been relaxing for the last three days."

Nick smiled as he drew a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "That's the spirit, fluff!"

"No! That's _not_ the spirit!" Gripping the black tips of her ears, Judy dragged them down as she let out a frustrated growl. " _That's_ the spirit of a failure! Of someone who'll give up at the first sign of difficulty! That may be you, _Mister_ Wilde, but that certainly isn't me!"

"And getting your cute little tail in a twist as you throw a public tantrum will get us there any quicker?" Nick's smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a hard glare.

Huffing as she folded her arms across her chest, Judy returned the fox's glare with a fiery one of her own. "No, but you know what would have? If _someone_ hadn't made a pointless detour back to the office to pick up a jacket!" Judy's glare pointedly briefly shifted to the folded piece of white fabric resting over her employer's arm. "Because unless businesses down in Zootopia are run differently from how they go on the surface, we now only have an hour to get to Aperture Labs before it closes, and oh! Would you look at that!" Her eyes barely flickered up to the marquee before returning to the target of her ire. "It takes three quarters of that time to even _get_ to the district, _if_ the stupid train's even on time! And what have I said about calling me _cute?"_

"It's all part of the process, fluff." The fox's smug face was back as he looked towards one end of the long room. "One good thing about Zootopia's transit system," Nick's emerald gaze flickered back to Judy as the rabbit's ears perked up, hearing the gurgling of displaced water over the murmur of the crowd, "Is that it's always on time."

Like a leviathan from the deep, the great metallic carriages rose from the pool of water where ocean met building, sea brine sloughing off in a cascade before sweeping down into the overflow channels alongside the tracks. As the train slid to a halt and the multitude of doors open, a brief period of chaos ensued as mammals from within and without simultaneously attempted to get on and off the carriages. With bathysphere travel out of commission for the time being, the transit stations were as of yet unaccustomed to such great crowds. Despite the confusion of the impromptu stampede, Nick artfully wove his way through the crowd, securing a position on board.

"Come on, fluff! Don't want to miss the train, now!"

There were times when Judy truly despised that smirk on the fox's face.

Now was _definitely_ one such time.

* * *

Away from the urban shopping and residential districts of Zootopia, so too was Athena's Alley away from the aesthetics of the rest of the city. Dealing more with the daily grind of nine-to-five business in cubicles and filing cabinets and less with the eye-pleasing splendor of customer service, the architects behind the district had focussed more on function and finances rather than form and splendor. Not to say that the company facades were ugly; they just had their own sense of –

"You could _not_ pay me enough to work here."

As loath as she was to admit it, Judy agreed with her employer. Whereas Zootopia proper had its own undeniable charm, and even the Warren had its own quirks to make it unique, walking along the hallways of Athena's Alley felt as though they were walking the same stretch of corridor over and over again. Even the passersby, mammals either heading to work the night-shift or getting out of the day shift a bit early, seemed the same; true, they were all different species, ages, genders and whatnot, but for the most part, with their suits and weary expressions, they appeared to Judy to be every part of a lifestyle she would never wish for herself.

It was with great relief when finally, on the block ahead of them, Judy spotted their target. Amidst the repetitious displays of concrete pillars separating glass walls which revealed little more than generic reception rooms, was yet another pane of glass. What separated this one from the others, though, was an oddly angularly circular logo set next to the business' name, _Aperture Laboratories_.

Halting alongside the fox, who seemed wholly ignorant of the tide of pedestrians flowing around them, Judy examined the business as best she could through the front window; with the reflection cast off the glass, the many mammals walking between her and it, and her rather short stature, the rabbit unfortunately could not make out much. "Alright then, Mister Wilde, what's the plan?"

"Pardon, miss?" The voice that spoke from next to her was not that of the infuriating Nicholas Wilde, Private Investigator. Rather, as the rabbit turned, a look of pure confusion on her face, she was met by the appearance of one Dr. N. Wilde, Kaplomenologist, as was proudly displayed on the nametag clipped to the lab coat of the strange vulpine next to her.

Clad now in the light white jacket and a pair of wire frame glasses, the fox stood slightly hunched over, exuding the same air worn-out acceptance as the other mammals of the hallway. Nick briefly nudged the glasses up further along his snout before he spoke again in a slightly nasally voice. "It's _doctor_ , if you don't mind, or Nick, if that's alright with you." Awkwardly shuffling under the bunny's gaze, the fox shoved his hands into the lab coat's pockets before shrugging. "As for a plan, I figured we'd just walk on in. I work there, after all."

Judy stood stock still, flabbergasted, for several seconds before giving herself a shake, hurriedly weaving through the crowds to catch back up with the fox.

* * *

While the exterior of Aperture Laboratories had been as bland as the rest of the district, the interior was anything but. Hardwood floor with intricately detailed rugs were partially concealed in places by several comfortable looking chairs, while the walls were primarily a jigsaw of large, rounded river stones, with bookshelves and display cases interspersed. The entire reception room was lit by a soft light emanating from a half-dozen globe lamps hanging from the ceiling. To get through the room, the duo passed a chipper young ewe who sat at her desk, diligently typing away at something on her typewriter. The young sheep looked up momentarily at the pair when Nick, having briefly glanced at her name plate only a second before, greeted her casually with an 'Evening, Caroline'. The ewe smiled at the two, showing no surprise or concern as they strode passed, Judy tailing slightly behind.

Trotting after the fox, Judy pulled him to a halt in the mostly-vacant room once out of earshot of the receptionist. "What was that?"

Blinking at the doe, Nick once again adjusted his glasses. "What was what?"

"That!" Judy flailed at Nick, and then back at the ewe at her desk. "And that! She didn't even bat an eye!"

A hint of the fox's usual smirk appeared before he quickly shuffled on the spot, rearranging his coat. "Infiltration one-oh-one, Carrots," he whispered, eyes darting about the room. "The more you look and act like you belong, the less people will question you. Wouldn't matter if she'd been working here for a week or a decade; odds are she doesn't know everyone here, and if I look like I belong here, she'll assume that I do."

"But I know you!" Seeing the look her companion gave her, Judy rolled her eyes. "I know you enough, and even _I'm_ having a hard time thinking you don't work here."

Nick merely readjusted his lab coat, slipping back into his role as he gave the rabbit before him a quick smirk. "If there was one class I did well at in school, it was drama." Wrinkling his nose a bit, Nick continued, voice once more shifted up in tone and slightly nasally. "Shall we, miss?"

Rolling her eyes at the fox's theatrics, Judy nevertheless followed him through the sliding door at the end of the room.

Whereas the exterior hallway of Athena's Alley had been designed for functionality and little more, and the reception chamber had been overflowing with aesthetic comfort, the chamber the pair found themselves in was a comfortable blend of both. Brightly lit, the stark white chamber rose ever upwards, the eye drawn up by the gentle curve of the spiralling staircase in the centre of the room, which itself formed around an open-concept elevator. Frosted glass walls on each floor gave hints to whatever studies were being performed within, while many mammals traversed the floors, bustling from one office to another. Many more mammals, in fact, than Judy had anticipated, making her reassess the company's hours of operation. She nearly slapped herself in the face when she noticed just _what_ mammals were still about. _Of course they'd still be busy, with this many nocturnal employees._

Her self-chastisement was cut short by the sounds of an argument several floors up. Normally, Judy would try to avoid eavesdropping, but the mammal in question was being very loud about his disapproval. That, and Judy was fairly certain she recognized his voice.

"I don't _care_ if he's one of the top innovators in the plasmid business, Doug," the voice snarled from above. Looking up as she and Nick headed purposefully towards the stairs, Judy saw the elevator descend from somewhere in the heights of the building, and stop on the seventh floor. The voice took a tone of forced calmness, the fury buried beneath obvious to a deaf wildebeest all down in the Warren. "They're _plasmids_ , Doug. Let you re-write your genetic sequence however you want, or whatever the eggheads say. They give you _superpowers,_ Doug. If Doctor Laff thinks they need to be lemon-flavored to sell better, then Laff is doing something wrong, Doug!" The pair ascending the staircase was halfway between floors two and three when the descending elevator passed them, containing a very angry Leodore Lionheart yelling at a very terrified rat, a lemon barely maintaining its form as it was clutched within his gargantuan paw. "I don't want to see a bill for _fifty cases of lemons_ on my invoices, Doug! If Laff tries to pull something like this again, I want you to _burn his house down! WITH THE LEMONS!_ " The merry chime of the elevator opened its door on the ground floor was very much at odds with the ferocious lion who stalked out of its hold.

Judy was glad she wasn't in either the poor rat or the Dr. Laff's positions right now. Furthermore, she was _very_ glad that Leodore Lionheart either hadn't noticed the ascending pair, or hadn't thought to shift his ire to either of them. Shooting her companion a quick glance, Judy hissed at him, "Did you know this was Lionheart's company?"

The only sign that Nick was concerned about his current ploy that Judy could see was the slight widening of his eyes. Although, that could have been part of his new persona; Judy couldn't tell. "No," he replied, not bothering to lower his voice, "And I didn't know that he's not a fan of lemonade, either."

A lemon splattered against the wall above Nick's head as an almost feral roar erupted from three floors below.

"The next person to so much as _think_ the word lemonade is fired! Do you hear me? FIRED!"

* * *

Fortunately, the interior of what they believed to be Emmitt Otterton's lab had far fewer incensed lions than the exterior. In fact, even if the angry Lionheart hadn't been outside, Judy found the lab to be much more soothing than the rest of the building they'd seen so far. Interspersed amongst lab tables strewn with all sorts of scientific equipment were rows upon rows of planters filled with all manner of plants – fruits, vegetables, flowers, weeds, lichen, even some plants that the bunny didn't recognize filled almost every inch of mulch. She almost asked her companion what went on in the lab before she realized two things; firstly, no matter his manner and appearance, Nicholas Wilde did not, in fact, work there, and secondly, the irksome fox was once again not by her side. Scanning the room, she spotted the fox conversing with a puma who looked rather overworked, if the glazed state of his eyes and the crumpled appearance of his clothes had anything to say about it.

"Emmitt?" Judy heard the beleaguered puma respond to her employer's unheard question. "Why are you looking for him?" The scientist squinted at Nick, eyeing the name tag warily. "What department are you with?"

Pulling out his wallet and quickly flashing it's opened face before the scientist, Nick straightened, shedding his assumed mien. "Wilde Card Detective Agency. We've been hired by his wife to track him down."

"Emmitt's married?!" Noticing the looks he garnered from his fellow scientists, the puma shrunk in on himself. "Sorry," he apologized to Nick, apparently not having noticed Judy join his side. "Dr. Otterton was rather closed-mouthed about his personal life. Not saying that he was standoffish at all; no, we all rather liked him. Was always very dedicated to his work. We've all been run off our feet here, trying to stay on top of things while he's in the hospital."

"Hospital?!" Judy clapped a paw over her mouth as yet more glares were sent the trio's way from the surrounding scientists. She did, however, take some small satisfaction as the puma started, startled by the small bunny. "What happened to him?"

The puma nervously glanced towards a vacant desk next to the door before returning his attention to the two detectives. "It was Chris, one of our delivery gnu's." Eyes going wide, the scientist frantically shook his head and paws, stumbling over his words as he began to hyperventilate. "Not that it was his fault! He didn't mean to! Didn't know any better, he's in the hospital, too!"

Stepping forward, Judy laid a paw on the large feline's arm. "Sir, we need you to calm down," she said in her most calming tone. "Deep breaths, just like that."

After a few seconds, the scientist had calmed down enough to continue in a much informative matter. "Dr. Otterton was working on a project for a client, studying Midnicampum holicithias, or Night Howlers, as they're more colloquially known. Chris came in a couple of days ago, saw them, thought that they were just flowers, and…" Giving a half-hearted shrug, the puma let the detectives draw their own conclusion. "If consumed, the plant causes violent aggression in the subject towards anyone around, and it just so happened that Emmitt was closest." Closing his eyes for a moment as he shook his head, the scientist sighed, surveying the room. "We've been struggling to keep up with everything since the incident, but from what we've heard, he's expected to make a full recovery."

"And the hospital they're being kept in would be…?" Judy wanted to hit the fox so hard right then, but restrained herself; while she felt that he was being overly blunt towards a mammal who'd witnessed a violent assault on a close colleague, they also had the otter's wife to worry about. Judy was sure Mrs. Otterton would want an update as soon as possible, which meant that the pair likely had to be a bit rougher around the edges at times than the rabbit would normally prefer.

Fortunately, the feline scientist didn't seem to take any offense to the fox's tone. "Oh, yes, I think it's Apollo's Mercy, over in the Medical Pavillion."

Just before the pair made it to the door, a thought occurred to Judy. "Why wasn't Dr. Otterton's wife informed of all of this?"

The puma blinked at Judy for a moment before responding. "Well, responsibility for informing family in such matters falls to the head of the… department…" A look of dawning realization crossed the puma's features before his paw met his face with a fleshy smack. The feline let out an exasperated sigh as he dragged his paw down, distorting his features. "I swear we're smart here…" Drawing a deep breath, he shouted to the room on a whole. "With all of the doctorates and degrees in here, did _anyone_ check to see if the boss had any family needing to be informed after his incident?"

The silence that fell over the room as an answer was almost viscously thick as the pair of investigators departed.

* * *

"Oh, Emmitt!"

Judy and Nick watched from the hospital room's doorway as an ecstatic Mrs. Otterton was reunited with her husband, even though the latter was still rather loopy from his prescribed painkillers. The pair, upon departing Aperture Laboratories, had made a quick detour to the Minoan Arms to inform Mrs. Otterton of what they'd discovered about her missing husband. Promptly, the newly formed trio made their way to the Apollo's Mercy in the Medical Pavilion. Upon receiving word as to which was the missing otter's room, the fox and rabbit had difficulty keeping the worried wife in sight as she wove her way through the hallways, finally coming to a halt before the door in question. The sight of the reunion was touching, but the moving of a third figure in the room drew Judy's attention as a familiar looking fox quietly exited the room.

Judy was about to shrug off the feeling of knowing the vulpine, until the fox in question spoke up, apparently having the same feeling of recognition. "Judy?"

Looking closer at the features of the new fox before her, Judy felt a clamminess come over her as the blood rushed from her face. "Gi-Gideon Grey?"

The pair stood in an awkward silence in the sterile white halls of the hospital. Though Judy moved to speak, Gideon beat her to the punch. "Hey, Judy. I… to be honest, I never expected to see you again, but I'm kinda glad that I did." The hefty predator rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the ground before him as he had difficulty meeting the smaller bunny's eyes. "I… I'd just like to say sorry for how I behaved in my youth. I had a lot of self doubt, and it manifested itself in the form of unchecked rage and aggression." Glancing up to meet the rabbit's amethyst gaze, Gideon chuckled nervously. "I was a real jerk."

Instinctively, Judy's gut reaction was to tear into the fox, berating him for thinking that a few simple words could make up for years of torment and abuse. But as her gaze drifted to the pair of otters in the room beside her, her eyes stopped as they saw the view out of the window. Here they were, in a city built at the bottom of the ocean, around the creed that anyone could be anything. If the Gideon from her childhood had changed enough to warrant a personal invitation to such a city, then she figured that he at least deserved a second chance.

"I'm not going to lie and say that you weren't…" Judy felt a small twist in her gut at the expression that crossed her ex-bully's face, but pushed through it. "But thanks for the apology." Once more, an awkward silence fell, but it was Judy who broke it this time. "So… what brings you to Zootopia?"

Gideon perked up, visibly happy at the change in topic. "Well, I came here in part 'cause I was looking for a new start and all, but since arriving, I've made a bit of a business for myself! You're lookin' at one the most in-demand bakers in all of Zootopia! Own myself a company and everything, call it 'The Grey Baker'."

Whatever Judy had expected of the fox, that certainly wasn't it. "That… That's really cool, Gideon."

"Wait, _you're_ the Grey Baker?" The talking pair turned, startled as Nick butted into the conversation. The leaner fox didn't seem to notice, his focus instead lost to the ethos as he started salivating. "You make the _best_ blueberry pies!"

"Well shucks, thanks! I'll be sure to send some your way. Any friend of Judy's a friend of mine."

Nick's muzzle scrunched a bit at that. "'Friend's' stretching it a bit. More like 'work colleague'."

Gideon turned his focus back to the rabbit. "And what's it you do down here, Ms. Hopps?"

Shooting a flat look at Nick, Judy rolled her eyes. "Well, at the moment I'm working with Mr. Wilde-"

" _Nick_."

"-Nick over here as a private investigator. In fact, it's why we're here." Judy gestured to the pair of otters in the hospital room. "Mrs. Otterton here hired us to track down her missing husband."

"Ah." Gideon's chipper mood faded in an instant, instead replace with a look of regret. "Well, I'm afraid I'm actually the reason he's here."

"What?" Judy frowned, raising an eyebrow at the baker. "We heard it was a gnu who attacked Emmitt."

"Oh, it was, it was, but he only went savage because the flowers were in the lab, and they were there because of me. I've been by to see how he's doing whenever I've had the time to spare."

Now it was Nick's turn to look confused. "I don't follow."

Gideon huffed in displeasure, rolling his head from side to side. "Well, I contacted Aperture about looking into new natural preservatives for my food; I figured since our farms used the Night Howlers to keep pests away from the crops, couldn't it be changed to do the same for the pests and bacteria for the food?"

"And I'm guessing that hasn't turned out too well."

"Nick!" Shooting a glare at her companion, Judy shook her head. "Sorry, Gideon."

"No, it's alright; after the 'incident', I'm pretty sure it would be best to pull the plug on the whole project." The pudgy fox sighed as he shrugged.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but at least you don't need them for your current recipes, right?" Judy smiled as Gideon acknowledged the fact, and then paused as another thought occurred to her. "Wait, I thought Aperture was mainly in the plasmid business… Why'd you go to them for this?"

"Oh, no!" Gideon chuckled as he shook his head. "They got all sorts of studies going on. Plasmids, antibiotics, botanical studies, you name it! As for why them… Well, you heard of Lionheart's 'Mammal Inclusion Initiative' on the surface, right?" Gideon barely waited for Judy to nod before continuing. "Well, he's continued that with his company down here; more species of mammals work for Aperture than you can shake a stick at!" Although he let out another chuckle, his expression was rather sad, and a touch tired. "Seems like not many are actually trying to follow his example; just me an' a few others, that I've seen." The larger fox missed the pointed look that Judy sent her companion. "Hardly the ideal that brought us all down here… Makes a mammal think life might not be all that different back on the surface."

"Well, hard to check up on that with bathysphere travel out of commission." Whatever else Nick had to contribute to the conversation was cut short as the door to the hospital room cracked further, emitting a tired, but happy, Mrs. Otterton.

"How's he doing?" Judy queried, glancing back into the room. The male otter was reclining on the bed, showing few signs of movement, but his wife didn't seem worried.

"He's been better, but he's doing better now; he's just sleeping." The female otter wiped a few stray tears from her eyes, before enveloping Judy in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you, bunny!"

Judy stood there awkwardly for but a heartbeat before returning Mrs. Otterton's affection. Looking up, she smiled and nodded to Gideon as the hefty fox gave a quick wave before departing, but then Judy's focus settled instead on Nick. "You're welcome, but…" As gently as she could, Judy extracted herself from the otter's embrace before nodding to the confused Nick. "It was actually Nick over here who got most of the leads in the case. I was mostly along for the ride."

Before the startled fox could even slip a word in edgewise, he too found himself in an embrace that, if anything, was even tighter than the one Judy had found herself in. "I don't know what I would have done, if not for you and your hard work. Thank you," the otter gushed while Nick stared with wide eyes first at the smiling rabbit before him, then the otter embracing him. Awkwardly, he maneuvered his arms around her, before settling on a rigid one-arm embrace while the other timidly patted her on the head.

"There, there?"

* * *

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" The pair of detectives had opted to take the trip back to the office on foot rather than brave the chaos that was the Transit terminal again. At first, Judy had enjoyed the walk in silence, but as the minutes and city blocks passed by, the lack of attitude she was receiving from the fox began to bother her.

"Hmm?" Looking up from his reverie, Nick shrugged, gaze turning back to the distance. "Oh, yeah."

Letting out a harrumph, Judy bounded ahead of the fox, setting herself directly in his path, arms crossed and glare at the ready. "Alright, mister, what's the problem." The fox stumbled to a halt, saving himself from trampling over the rabbit, who had now added the 'foot-tap' to her repertoire of annoyed mannerisms.

"Nothing, fluff, I'm fine."

"No, you're not 'fine'. The Nicholas Wilde I've come to know is not 'fine'. He's annoying, he's snarky, he's impatient, and that's not the fox I see before me, so spill."

"I…"

Seeing how her blunt approach was getting her nowhere with the nervous fox, Judy sighed, releasing some of her pent-up tension. "Look, Nick… If it'll help..." Bracing herself for her own inevitable emotional turmoil, she began. "That fox back there… He was my old childhood bully. He used to tell me how I'd never amount to anything, how I'd always just be a back-woods carrot farmer only good for increasing the bunny population." Judy let out a sad chuckle at that, before her paw drifted to her cheek. "He even lashed out one time when I stood up to him… Still have the scars to prove it." Blinking away the past, the bunny focused on the emerald gaze that was staring at her with an unreadable expression -Pity? Sorrow? Judy couldn't tell. "But you know what, Nick? All his bullying ever did to me was drive me to become the bunny I am today. It may not be much, but I'm doing my best to make the world a better place, one small act at a time. And whatever's eating at you, I believe _you_ can build up from it, too."

Her words seemed to have an impact on her companion as he held up a fist to his mouth, knuckles cracking as he clenched and re-clenched his paw. "Well, now I feel like a jerk for how I treated you before," a bit of his trade-marked smirk reappeared on the vulpine's features. "I suppose I owe you an apology for that, Ms. Hopps."

Judy cracked a smile. "Judy'll do just fine, since you keep insisting I just call you Nick."

"Ugh," Nick recoiled in mock horror. "If that's the case, I think I'll stick with 'Fluff', thanks."

Smile turning into a smirk of her own, Judy good-naturedly turned up her nose at the fox. "If that's how you're going to be, then it's 'Carrots' or nothing else."

"Deal."

Judy felt a bubble of happiness build in her chest as the fox stuck out a paw. She took a moment, staring at the paw in mock deliberation, before grasping it in a firm shake. "Now that that's all settled, what's been eating at you?"

Nick sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, it's gonna sound stupid out loud, but… I've never really had anyone appreciate me for the work I've done before."

 _He's right_ , Judy figured, _it does sound stupid._ "Well now, I don't believe that for a second." Taking a second as she pretended to think it over, her smirk grew. "Well, maybe I doubt that you've ever actually _worked_ before, but I'm sure you've got plenty of admirable traits."

"Ouch, fluff, your words, they wound!" Nick held a paw to his chest in mock dismay before his mood soured. "Believe it or not, it's the truth." Looking around, Nick led Judy to a pair of chairs sat at a table outside of a café, closed for the evening. "Better get settle in, fluff; I have a bit of a tale to tell.

"Imagine if you will, the life of a young fox kit. Now, this kit came from a poor family, and so for most of their childhood, they shared a small apartment flat with their extended family; aunt, cousin, grandparents, you name it. Despite these conditions, said kit triumphed in their young life; all throughout school, they achieved the top grades of their class without ever seeming to have to try. They were the star of the cross-country team, top player of their soccer team, and seemed to gather friends wherever they went. Their good fortune followed them through middle and high school, earning them a full-ride scholarship to their university of choice, where the trend continued to the point where they got their dream job. Without a doubt, this young kit was the golden-child of the family." Over the course of his telling his tale, Nick had seemed to swell in his seat, embellishing his tale to Judy with broad strokes of his hands as though he were a painter at a canvas. Sitting tall and proud, paws splayed on the table before him and a star-struck look of near ecstasy plastered across his features, Nick suddenly collapsed in on himself, head flopping down to be propped up by a weary paw. "Now imagine being that kit's cousin," he dead panned.

"No matter how hard I tried, I could never live up to Carmelita's shadow – barely managed to scrape a 'B' average in any of my classes, never placed in any cross-country race, got kicked off of the basket-ball team… Heck, I even flunked out of university, much to my mother's dismay." The fox let out a weary chuckle as he shook his head. " _That_ led to quite the argument, let me tell you. Good ol' mom let slip then that I was actually my grand-father's favourite grand-kit, and you know what she said right after?" He didn't even wait for Judy's response before he spat out his response, glaring at the table top. "'I can't for the life of me imagine why.'" His glare shifted up to take in the rabbit across from him, and even though she knew that it wasn't _her_ that his ire was directed at, she still shrunk under the venom of his emerald gaze. "Do you know what that _does_ to a guy? Having your own mother tell you that she can't fathom why anyone would like _him_ over his goody-two-shoes cousin?" Nick sighed, letting his head flop down to rest on his arms, which lay crossed on the table's frosted-glass surface. "I pretty much gave up even trying at that point, taking whatever odd-jobs I could to get by, until one day something miraculous occurred." Nick perked up, sitting properly in his chair again. "Carmelita _failed_." His gaze once more getting lost in the past, Nick's tail began to idly wag behind him. "She'd been sent to protect some diva's priceless jewel, and had it stolen out from under her nose! It was actually another thief who returned the diamond, _and_ the original thief, that even allowed her to keep her job! When I heard the news, I was happier than I could remember being in a _long_ time."

Nick shifted uncomfortably in his seat, holding up a finger to forestall Judy's interruption. "Now, I'll admit, I'm not too proud of where my next line of thinking led me, but at the time, it seemed fitting. As I said, hearing of her failure made me feel better about myself in a way that I hadn't felt in a long time, but what if _I_ could do that? Make others fail while pulling myself ahead?" Nick shied away from the look of betrayed disappointment that was painted across Judy's features. "I know that it wasn't a good plan, but it worked; drama was pretty much the only class I'd ever done well in, and heck, if the people on the surface were only ever going to see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, why try being any different?" Nick shook his head in his own self-disappointment. "It worked for a while; I hustled animals out of their wages, and it made me feel good, but after a while it started to leave a sour taste in my mouth. I wanted out, but it was all I'd ever been good at. When I caught wind of Zootopia, I thought it was a second chance, a chance to make a new, a _better_ life for myself." A half-hearted chuckle burst for from the fox's mouth. "And then, what do you know, good ol' Carmelita's already set up shop down here, and the whole cycle started all over again."

"Oh, Nick…" Judy couldn't help herself from embracing the vulpine in a hug; what the fox had done in the past may have been despicable, but so too was the hand that life had dealt him with. Sure, her family had never really accepted her chosen pursuits in life, but she'd never been out-right _rejected_ by them.

"You bunny's…" Nick murmured as he awkwardly patted Judy on the back, "Always so emotional. Ow!" He clutched at his side where Judy had landed a firm punch, the rabbit taking a step back to glare at him.

"No more hustling, you got it?"

Nick nodded, rubbing his side. "In my defense, since I got down here, I've only been hustling money from animals who deserve it; thieves and strong-arms and the like."

"Uh-huh." Judy leveled an unimpressed look at the fox. "You're a modern-day Robin Hood."

Holding up three fingers in one paw, Nick placed his other over his heart. "Scout's honor. My poker games are a regular den of thieves."

Judy raised an eyebrow at this. "And you haven't turned them in because…?"

"Where else would I get the money?" Nick shot a smirk at the rabbit, before rolling his eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh. " _Fine_ , I suppose we can take on another _legitimate_ client." His expression quickly shifted to one of mock severity. "But only one!"

* * *

 **A/N Aaaand CUT!**

 **Don't worry, my lovelies, this isn't the end of our intrepid duo, there are at least two more 'acts' left in this story (Is it weird that I have it laid out in my mind like a stage-play?)**

 **But yes, consider this a (albeit slightly belated) Christmas gift (for those of you who celebrate Christmas. If you don't... Have a gift on the house anyway!)! I hope to see you all back in the New Year.**

 **Til then!**

 **~Raimar**


	8. Chapter 8

**People have been commenting lately about references to Portal.**

 **I have no idea what you people are talking about.**

 **Just because Leodore Lionheart and Cave Johnson share a voice actor, and I happened to include a Caroline and a Rat-man named Doug doesn't mean... Wait, what do you mean none of you mentioned any of that?**

 **Ignore what I said.**

 **As always, thank you to you lovely folks who have read, followed, favorited, and commented!**

 **Any who haven't done all the above, disregard the thanks.**

 **...I always worry about including jokes like that one in text, it's hard to get tone across with only writing like... well, this.**

 **Related to the above: I am pleased to announce that I have officially garnered the attention of two of the four authors who have stories permanently open on my browser, awaiting further updates. *Pirate flag slowly ascends* Zanrok, I'm coming for you...**

 **But you're not here for a mad-man's ramblings. You're here for the story! So on with it!**

* * *

 _Walking through Hermes' Heights today, at first I felt awe at how beautiful everything was. And then I remembered the Warren. How can there be such hope and beauty in one place, and yet such despair and neglect not even an hour away?_

Judy Hopps, _"Hope and Despair"_

* * *

'One more case' soon turned into two, and then three, then five, then ten, to the point where the Wilde Card Detective Agency was well known throughout Zootopia as the company to turn to when such services were needed. While Nick was prone to grumbling about his newfound lack of free time, Judy saw through his façade – the tod was enjoying himself, and the attention he was garnering. As for herself, Judy couldn't be happier as she hopped her way down the alley off Main Street. In the few short months that she'd been working alongside the fox, she'd managed to save up enough to move out of her shared 'flat' – in reality, it had been little more than a broom closet – in the Warren, and up to Zootopia proper. While she had been a touch sad to say goodbye to her roommates, there wasn't anything down in the depths of the city that she'd truly miss; Leo and the rest of the band, last she'd heard, had also moved up to Zootopia proper, and as for the rest… The sense of discontent was strong down in the Warren, and hostilities had begun to flare; Carmelita's forces were having difficulty keeping a handle on things down there.

The bell perched over the door jangled merrily as Judy stepped into her shared office. "Morning, Lola!" The bunny chirped to the young lynx sitting at the front desk. With the influx of clients, the detectives had brought a third member into their fold, specifically as a secretary to man the office while the other two were away. "What's new today?"

"Well," Eyes briefly darting to a piece of paper on the desk, the lynx sat up straight, yet still having to look down to meet the gaze of her boss. "Mr. Yakerman stopped by with the rest of his payment, as well as a box from Mr. Mitten's bakery as thanks for returning his belonging so quickly."

"M-hmm." Judy supressed a smile at her secretary's slight slip-up; 'Mr. Mitten's' was the lynx's nick-name for Gideon. Ever since running into the pudgy fox at the hospital, the baker had made a point of dropping by semi-regularly with a fresh batch of baking. So fresh were the pastries, in fact, that he needed to wear a pair of oven-mitts just to handle the tray they were on every time. Thus, the nick-name. Nick teased the young feline relentlessly whenever she let the name slip out, but Judy found it endearing. "And how are they this time?"

A look of surprised innocence appeared on the lynx's face. "What do you mean?"

"The treats from the bakery." Judy's smirk slipped out; she'd noticed it was a quirk that she'd undoubtedly picked up from her partner. "You still have some crumbs in your whiskers."

The feline had the grace to look embarrassed as she quickly wiped herself clean. "I can't help myself! I have a weakness for his blueberry tarts!"

Judy laughed as she walked past. "Just make sure to leave some for the rest of us!"

"Oh!" Stopping as her secretary cried out, the rabbit looked back at the lynx. "There's also a Mr. Litnou… Rittenhou… Rister…" Frowning down at her own handwriting, Lola sighed as she tossed the paper back down on the desk. "There's a timber wolf upstairs to see you and Mr. Wilde."

"Thank you, Lola." Turning back to the stairs, Judy frowned. _Need to get that girl some penmanship lessons…_ While she was normally good at her job, and quite enthusiastic about it, the young lynx's handwriting sometimes left something to be desired. Leaving the matter for another day, the bunny bounded up the stairs, eager to see what this next case would bring.

Opening the door at the top of the stairs, Judy was glad to see that Nick was already there; not that she doubted Lola's non-written capabilities, but she wouldn't want their guest sitting alone in the office for who-knows-how-long. As it was, the two canids were seated comfortably at Nick's desk, in the middle of a discussion. Upon the arrival of the rabbit detective, however, their joviality cut short; now was the time for business.

"Nice of you to join us, Carrots." Judy rolled her eyes with a sigh. Even in their office, in front of a client, about to discuss work, Nick just could not be professional. "Mr. Ritsenhowler here was just bringing me up to speed on the going's on up at Hermes Heights."

"Pleasure to meet you... Sir." No longer quite as worried about her secretary's penmanship, Judy stuck out a paw, examining the larger mammal as he turned to face her. Primarily darker grey furred along his back and upper head while a creamy white for his front, neck, and jowls, the wolf was in a crisp white shirt, red tie, and black uniform jacket; while he did look professionally dressed, his overall appearance didn't lend to that of one of authority. _Concierge, bellhop, doorman, or waiter,_ Judy surmised.

"The pleasure is all mine, miss." The wolf's voice was lightly accented, carrying with it an air of sophistication. "I only wish that it could have been under happier circumstances."

"It's a sentiment shared by most who visit us." Coiling her legs under her, Judy leaped, turning slightly mid-air so that she landed sitting on the desk-top, facing her guest. While in itself not a very professional move, Judy found that it gave the proceedings an air of casualness – it led to clients feeling less like they were under scrutiny and more comfortable, making it easier to open up to the detectives. That, and it put Judy closer to eye-height with most of their clients. "So, please," Judy gestured the wolf to the chair he had just vacated, "What brings you here today?"

Sitting nervously on the edge of the seat, the largest mammal in the room unconsciously began dry-washing his paws. "Well, it's a rather… _delicate_ matter. You see, I'm employed at the Morpheus." Judy wanted to reprimand her co-worker when he let loose a surprised whistle, she really did, but she couldn't exactly fault him. Hermes' Heights was the district home to Zootopia's highest-class citizens, and the Morpheus was the residence of choice of those at the very pinnacle of Zootopian culture. The wolf, for his own part, merely gave a slight grin as his eyes glanced up at the fox across from him. "Indeed. As you can imagine, discretion is paramount in this regard; if any word, any word at all were to get out about our need of detectives such as yourself, our reputation would be irredeemably tarnished."

"We will be as discrete as possible, you can rest assured." The pointed look that the rabbit gave the fox was met with one that clearly said, _Why are you looking at me, I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't know how my hand even got into that cookie jar, I swear!_

Judy didn't buy her colleagues innocence for a second, but nevertheless turned her attention back to her client.

"My gratitude," the wolf nodded to the rabbit. "As for the matter at hand… Well, to put it succinctly, there have been a number of disturbing thefts as of late."

"What makes them disturbing?" Judy leaned forward, intrigued.

The potential client grimaced at what he was about to say. "You must understand, the Morpheus has a reputation of class and quality; both of our establishment, and our clientele."

"And here I am, still waiting on my invitation." Judy rolled her eyes at Nick's quip; the wolf merely snorted before continuing.

"We believe that the thief is one of our clients."

 _That_ got Nick's attention. Dropping his feet from the table-top, Nick leaned forward, tail merrily swishing through the air behind him. "One of Zootopia's finest is short on cash? Do tell, my good sir, do tell!"

The wolf kept his gaze focussed on Judy, but she could tell that even he, a mammal paid daily to cater to the eccentric whims and personalities of Zootopia's elite, was having his patience tried by her partner. "While we do afford our clientele their privacy, our more public venues are under strict surveillance; dining lounge, atrium, lounges and the like, as well as all service quarters. As such, we've been able to ascertain that all staff were accounted for and there were no unidentified visitors on the premises at the times of several of the thefts."

"I see…" Steepling her fingers before her, Judy stared absently at the floor. The mammals housed at the Morpheus were supposed to be the pinnacles of what Zootopia stood for, and to learn that one of their number was betraying them from within like an apple rotting from within sickened Judy. As much as the whole ordeal left a foul taste in her mouth, she knew her course was set. Such a wrong could not be left as it was, it went against everything she and Zootopia stood for. "You want this done quietly, correct?" Glancing back up, Judy saw the wolf nod. "Two reputable detectives trouncing around your building is hardly inconspicuous; do you have any way of getting us in there more… subtly?"

Their client nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Indeed, we do. In fact, that's in part what I was discussing with Mr. Wilde earlier. We have an annual poker tournament at the Morpheus coming up next week; that will be your partner's cover. As for your own…"

 _Perhaps we should form a club,_ Judy mused, examining the wolf before her. _The Smirker's League United._ Had they been attending the aforementioned poker tournament, the smug look the wolf was giving Judy would have convinced Judy that she had the losing hand.

As though he sensed Judy's apprehension, Mr. Rittenhowl's smirk transformed into a genuine smile. "There's nothing to fear, I assure you. In fact, I believe you will find our solution quite amicable."

* * *

Judy was dying.

She knew this to be a fact; there was no doubt about it. Her lung burned, pulling for air that would not be afforded to her. Had it not been for the fact that her vision was already obscured, the doe was certain that it would have been fading, going black at the edges as her body slowly died from oxygen deprivation. Writhing against her bonds proved just as useless as her feeble attempts at breathing; her arms remained pinned at her sides, incapable of offering any means of assistance.

 _This is it,_ her mind screamed in agony, _this is how I die! Farewell, cruel world; I shall miss thee, though I hardly knew you at all. So many destinations left unvisited, so many friends left without proper parting; my parents, my family will never know of my ignominious demise, body unreturned from it's final embrace… Farewell!_

"Ease up a bit there, mate – you're crushing the poor girl!"

Nothing in the world had ever been as sweet as the air that rushed to fill the void in Judy's lungs. As she collapsed, crumpling onto the floor, her ears registered laughter surrounding her. None of them, _none of them_ realized how close she had just been to meeting her demise!

"Well, what did she expect?" A voice – not the first, and not her captor – broke free from the throng of laughter. "Leaving us with hardly a 'goodbye'!" Her captor, a large brown bear, huffed his agreement.

It took Judy a moment to recover from her own laughter, but when she did she let out an indignant huff. "Hey! I said goodbye to all of you!"

Mac rolled his eyes, but was unable to keep the smile from his face. "Saying 'Bye, guys!' is hardly the same as 'I'm leaving you all forever!'"

"Hardly 'forever' if I'm back with you lot again, now is it?" Judy's well-exercised smirk re-emerged as Matt and Leo's laughter grew, Mac settling for merely shaking his head.

"Don't act like you didn't miss us."

"Hmm, did I miss you guys?" The answer was obvious to Judy, but at the band's expense she pretended to ponder the question for several moments. She _may_ have pushed the silence a bit too long, as Matt growled, threatening her with another hug. Laughing again as she bounced away from the bear's outstretched arms, her cheeks began to hurt from how large her smile was. "You know it!"

And she had, no doubt about it. Did she regret leaving the Warren? Not in the slightest. The fact that she was making a living doing what she loved? No way. Working alongside Nick? As snarky and annoying as the fox could be at times, he was also a fantastic partner and friend. But the camaraderie of the band was something that had been missing for a while, and only now that it was back did she realize just how much she had missed it.

With their own exodus from the Warren, the fortunes of her former band-mates turned around. Inspector Montoya had somehow managed to pull some strings with the entertainment manager at the Morpheus, landing the group an audition which, to none of Judy's surprise, they had aced, landing them a permanent position and lodgings in the resort. And with a change of venue came a change of practice room. The room they were now chatting in was much larger than the old walk-in cooler had been, and came with proper acoustics and equipment; instrument storage, lighting, speakers, enough space to house an entire orchestra, everything that they could ask for was there.

 _Well_ , Judy pondered as the conversation flowed around her, _almost everything._ "Where's Cam?"

And just like that, a sudden pall fell over the group like a wet blanket, dampening the once cheery spirits.

"What is it?" Judy was worried as the rest of the band remained awkwardly quiet. A sudden thought occurred to her, and her ears drooped. "He's… still a _part_ of the band, right?"

"Oh, of course, love," Leo nodded as he tried to muster a smile. "He's still with us, it's just…"

"He's moody."

The lion pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "To put it bluntly, Matt's correct. Although I'm not sure 'moody' is the word I would have used for it."

"It's just the curse that's got him down." Mac nodded as though his word were the law of the universe. "He's worried that it'll lose us this gig, too; he hasn't been himself since he lost the bathysphere thing."

Leo's fingers dug into his fur deeper, a scowl setting on his face. "There _is_ no curse! It's been nothing but a run of bad luck, plain and simple as that!"

"It's been, what, nine, ten jobs in a row now? That's more than bad luck!"

Stepping between the aggravated predators, Judy did her best to draw Leo's attention back to herself. "Have you tried talking with him, reasoning with him?"

The lion's tail cut through the air, swishing in an angry arc. "How can I reason with him when I can't even talk to him! Half the time he's locked in his room, and the other half _this_ idiot's feeding his asinine delusions!"

"Hey now, no need for that!" Judy had never seen the wolf look so wounded; ears flat against his skull, tail tucked between his legs, brows furrowed and eyes wide, the canine looked like a pup who'd just had his ice-cream knocked from his paws and trampled on.

Leo, for his part, had the good graces to look ashamed of his own words. He took a deep breath, composing himself before he looked back at the wolf, regret clear on his features. "I'm sorry, Mac; I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You know as well as I how hard we've all been working, and with Cam acting up like he has…" He roughly shook his head, gaze dropping to the carpet beneath his feet. "No, I can't go around blaming others for my behavior. I apologize. It won't happen again."

Mac tentatively nodded, though neither his ears nor his tail shifted from their positions. "Thanks. But you should also apologize to Cam."

The lion nodded resolutely. "I will the next time I see him." Several seconds of tense silence passed before Leo addressed Judy. "Would you mind coming with me for a moment, love? We should get you caught up on which numbers we're performing."

Casting a quick glance at the still forlorn wolf and the ever-silent bear, Judy turned her gaze back to the lion, nodding quickly. "Okay."

As the pair passed through the service halls of the Morpheus in silence, Judy couldn't help but take in her surroundings, marvelling at how different the band's situation was now from when she'd first joined them. Gone were the steel walls weeping their bloody rust under the weak florescent lights, gone was the omnipresent threat of violence lurking in the halls, no-where to be seen were there leaks where the ocean tried to reclaim its space. Instead, opulence oozed from every corner. The light cream wallpaper, with a rich, almost gold band along the top and bottom, she could swear was silk. Every dozen or so feet, a small alcove was set into the wall, where resided within gorgeous bouquets or intricate statuary. Delicate crystal chandeliers and angular sconces lit the hallway, casting everything in a warm glow, and it was all Judy could do to remind herself that they were still, in fact, in the _service quarters_ , and not the public areas for the rich and wealthy.

And yet for all of it, Judy still couldn't help but feel that the band was more discontent here than they'd been down in the Warrens. Her initial reuniting with the trio she'd seen so far felt like it was a quick shot of joy before the more familiar sullenness came to retake its rightful spot.

She hoped that she was only imagining things.

After two flights of stairs and what seemed like an eternity of silence, the pair arrived at what Judy took to be their destination. After Leo unlocked the door, Judy stepped through, admiring the room within. "Bringing home a girl so soon? My, where has the Leo I knew gone?" Judy smirked over her shoulder at the lion behind her, trying to lighten the mood. Leo stood in the doorframe, momentarily struck speechless. His look of shock quickly melted into an intrigued smile.

"And where has the innocent doe I met all those months ago gone, hmm? Such risqué humor!" Leo clucked his tongue as he shook his head, but his stance, tense in a way that Judy hadn't noticed, relaxed with his laughter. "It's good to have you back, love. We've missed you."

Judy didn't even hesitate before walking back to her friend, enveloping him in a hug as best she could given her short stature. "And I, you, you big lug," she smiled as his paws picked her up, hugging her to his chest. The pair stood in companionable silence for several seconds before Judy pushed back against his chest, looking the lion in the eye. "But I have a feeling you didn't ask me back here just for hugs."

Leo let out his deep, booming laugh as he set the doe back on her feet. "Quite right you are, love. Right you are." Moving to take one of the chairs in the room, the lion gestured Judy to the one across the small table from his. "Mr. Ritsenhowl has informed me the reason for your being here; given the band's notable place in the public eye, he's deemed us to be among the few management can truly rule out as culprits."

Judy nodded. "Right, that's why he's brought Nick and myself on; Nick keeps an eye on the guests and-"

Leo cut Judy off with a raised paw and a look of discomforted sadness. "One of the stipulations that management has is that we keep ourselves as far removed from the investigation as possible."

Looking at the tabletop separating them, Judy nodded, abashed. "Right. Loose lips sink ships and all that." A slight smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as she looked back up at the lion across from her. "I suppose that saying's never been more accurate than in Zootopia."

As a chuckle rumbled up from the depths of his chest, Leo nodded. "Afraid so, love." His features returned from joviality to seriousness. "Now, in order for your cover to remain uncompromised, for all intents and purposes, you must appear to be a part of the band again; practices, daily performances, wherever we are, you need to be, too, until this whole affair has been wrapped up." Judy nodded silently, eyes glued to the lion across from her. "We perform for the lunch and dinner crowds, eleven until two and four until seven respectively, Monday through Friday. Meet up in the band room half an hour beforehand for warmup. We have practice Saturday and Sunday mornings from six until eight, and then perform at the _Wyvern Lounge_ from seven until eleven in the evening. Aside from that, we're given mostly free reign. Here," Leo slid a thick, red, faux-leather folder across the tabletop to the doe. "Are the songs we're performing. The first ten are the ones we're cycling through this week." The seriousness of his expression lightened slightly as a smile pulled at the edges of his eyes. "I don't imagine they should be too difficult for you to work with." Indeed, as Judy flipped through the folder, she was pleased to note how many of them she already knew from her time at the _Siren's Call_. "And here," the doe looked up from the sheets in her paws to see the lion's paw once more withdraw, revealing a key underneath, "Is the key to your room."

"But I already have a place in Zootopia!" Judy looked between the hefty brass key and the lion, confused.

Shaking his great maned head with a light snort, Leo smirked, eyeing the detective. "Until you've apprehended the thief, you're to live as the rest of the band does, and the rest of us live here, love. Perk of the job. Room and board may be deducted from our wages, but we still make a healthy amount more than we did for Alex." Judy nodded, frowning slightly as she considered the key in front of her. "It's room number four fifty-one; because of the short notice and managements hopefulness on the brevity of your joining us, the accommodations may be a bit… cramped, I'm afraid."

"Ha!" Throwing her head back in a laugh, the rabbit gave the lion a knowing look. "Compared to what we had in the Warren, I'm sure it'll be lovely. This _is_ a luxury resort, after all."

Leo merely smiled at the rabbit before eyeing her attire. "Now, I do hope that's not all that you have to wear."

* * *

As it turned out, the dress code for a luxury resort in Zootopia's wealthiest district was a touch stricter than it had been in the slums, and as such, Judy's entire wardrobe was deemed unsuitable. Fortunately for the doe, her leonine companion was more familiar with the district than she, and knew several good boutiques which catered to Zootopia's smaller denizens for a half-way decent price.

'Half-way decent' brought a grimace of discomfort to Judy's features as she left the last store, purchases draped over her arm. True, her position with the Wilde Card Agency afforded her a comfortable salary, but that didn't mean she was _made_ of money.

 _It's a good thing I don't have to worry about food and rent until the job's done_ , the bunny mused, a small smile slowly emerging on her face at the thought of her purchases, _Although the dresses_ are _to die for._

There were five ensembles in total she'd purchased; a different one for each day of the week, and then switched up over the weekend. The dresses were each of a different colour, cut, and style, but there were two in particular she was fond of. The first, a black number with crimson trim, made the normally conservative doe feel dark, mysterious, and seductive. The second, a dark purple gown, she felt made her look elegant, and drew out the colour in her eyes.

Drawing a deep breath as she meandered along the boulevard, Judy let it out with a sigh, smiling as she soaked in the atmosphere of Hermes' Heights. As with the other districts of the city, the Heights had its own personality. The city blocks were built in such a way that one could almost make the mistake of believing themselves still on the surface enjoying an evening stroll through an old arts district; the architecture of the Heights twisted the eye in such a way that the blocks of stores, businesses, and residences looked for all the world like they were separate buildings rather than the overarching connectivity that was Zootopia. Wrought iron abounded against the deep, rich woodwork of the building's sidings, windows as often stained glass as not, and cobblestone streets with wooden walkways on the sides made the constantly twilight district feel more like it belonged on the pages of a novel depicting an idyllic evening on the town, rather than the real life before the bunny's eyes.

At least, that was until a storefront window down the block from her exploded outwards, a mass of fur, teeth, claws and limbs rolling across the street.

Judy stared aghast at the shattered tranquility before her. Two predators, a jackal and a ferret, separated themselves, the jackal wiping blood from the cuts on his face while the ferret bared his teeth in a snarl. The jackal looked ready to launch himself at the smaller mammal once more, but the puma who'd emerged from the grocer's door behind the brawling pair grabbed the jackal's elbows, pinning them to his side and holding him back.

"Get a hold of yourself, Al!" The puma growled before shifting his glare to the ferret. "Clinton, go home, and do-don't come back!"

The ferret, Clinton, stared at the puma, snarl growing fiercer. "Why should I? He's the one who started it!"

"Fuck that!" The jackal strained against the restraining puma. "I've had enough of your shit, you jackass!"

Clinton's snarl turned into a sneer. "Well, maybe if you'd respect your superiors-"

"I'll show you the respect you deserve!" The jackal had managed to free one of his arms, clawing at the ferret before the puma once more got him under control.

"Al! E-Enough!" The feline swung the jackal around, pushing him back towards the grocery store. "Go in the back; I'll deal with you in a bit. And I'm serious," the puma once more glared at the ferret across the street, ignoring the gathering onlookers, "Go home and don't come back. You're done here."

"No!" The ferret snarled, glaring at his two ex-coworkers. "Not unless you fire him too!"

The puma's lips drew back in a snarl of his own as he stalked a step closer to the smaller mammal. "We've had enough of your attitude, Clinton, and more than enough complaints from customers. Go."

"Probably stole from the register, too, the little slinky little bastard…" From her spot at the edge of the crowd, Judy's rabbit hearing could barely make out the jackals speciest comment, but from the reaction it garnered from the ferret, it was evident that Clinton had. With a nearly feral snarl, the mustelid launched himself once more at the jackal.

Judy was grateful that her new outfits came in garment bags to protect them from dust and dirt, but inwardly winced at the thought of the wrinkles that would undoubtedly form from her dropping them unceremoniously on the ground. However, any doubt as to whether it was the proper course of action never even set root in Judy's mind as she tackled the smaller predator. As per the ferret's kind's nature, Clinton was a wriggly little bastard, but between her and the puma, they managed to get him restrained. Judy felt the urge to deal with the jackal, too, as the canine's taunting from the sidelines only infuriated the ferret even more, but a snarl from the puma sent the jackal retreating into the depths of the store.

"Thanks for the help, miss," Jesse, if the puma's nametag was accurate, smiled at the bunny.

Judy shrugged as best she could while keeping the struggling ferret's arms pinned behind his back. "You'd be surprised; this isn't the first time I've had to keep a weasel pinned until security could arrive." Looking back up at the crowd, Judy whistled to get a nearby baker's attention – a small part of her mind smiled, noting that he worked for one of Gideon's bakeries, but the larger part was all business. "You! Call security!" The antelope nodded, disappearing into the bakery behind him. "Do we need to keep an eye on the other one?" Judy turned her attention back to the puma, who shook his head.

"No – Al's a smart guy, he- he knows better. Clinton here's just been pu-pushing all of our buttons lately. This has been a-a long time coming. I only wish it hadn't been like this."

Judy nodded, focussing her attention back on keeping the ferret pinned until help arrived, which was surprisingly quickly. Less than five minutes later, the crowd, which had thinned considerably, parted before a several constables, a few of whom Judy recognized immediately.

"Well, well," a Siberian tigress purred as she strolled through the crowd, eyeing the doe keeping the ferret pinned. "If it isn't our favourite rabbit detective, Ms. Hopps! Seems like you're trying to put ol' Iron Sides out of a job!"

The vixen in question glared at the constable under her command before turning her attention to Judy. "I must say, it does seem like you have a knack for finding trouble, Ms. Hopps."

"I was just coming back from some shopping when it all happened; it was the least that I could do to lend a paw to Jesse here. It looked like he could use the help." Carmelita eyed the puma in question, who nodded, while Judy stood up, relinquishing the captive to one of the constables. Looking back at the street behind her, the doe was simultaneously pleased and disgruntled to note that her purchases remained crumpled on the ground, undisturbed from where she'd tossed them. _Someone could have at least folded them neatly,_ she grumped as she picked them up, giving the bags a quick pat to try and clear some of the creases.

"I see." The inspector cast her gaze across the scene before her; one suspect being carted away by a pair of her constables, another constable interviewing the shop's proprietor while a pair cordoned off the sidewalk in front of the store. Neyla had disappeared into the shops interior to 'interview' the third shop-mammal, leaving the vixen alone, for the moment, with the doe. "I must say, we're quite the way from Main Street, Ms. Hopps; what brings you all the way up to Hermes' Heights?"

Judy's smile froze, kept in place by sheer will-power alone as she prepared to lie to the chief of Zootopia's security forces. "Well, things have slowed down a bit at the agency at the moment, giving me a bit more free time." _Blink, Judy, remember to blink._ "I've been in contact with Leo, the leader of the band I was with? You remember them, of course you do, you were there, anyway I've been talkingwithhimanditturnsouttheband'sbeenperforminguphere!" _BREATH!_ Struggling to draw in the much needed air without panting as though she'd run a marathon, Judy continued. "Anyway, Leo heard that I had some free time, and suggested I start performing with the band again! I loved it so much, how could I say no?" Judy hated herself at the moment. She hated lying. Hated it with all of her very soul. She tried to be an honest person, tried to live her life as an example of how others should live theirs, and here she was, lying through her teeth to the person who'd help set her up down in Zootopia. True, telling the inspector about the string of robberies at the Morpheus _would_ be the right thing to do, but it would also likely bring the entire force down upon the business, and _that_ was the opposite of a clandestine operation.

Carmelita, for her part, eyed Judy, suspicion clear on her features. "Right." The vixen looked back at the scene, frowning. "You'll be performing at the Morpheus, then?"

Blinking at the inspectors surprising amount of knowledge about the goings-on of various musical groups around the city, Judy merely nodded, eyes wide. Her heart seized up a little at the slight smirk that blossomed on the vixen's face. _Member number four of our merry little smirk troupe._

"Well, I look forward to seeing you on stage again, then, if under better circumstances this time." Carmelita laughed at the look of confusion on the doe's face. "The Morpheus just so happens to be where I live."

A clamminess fell on Judy as the fox turned away to deal with the crime-scene before her. Judy had just lied straight to the face of the leader of Zootopia's security forces… Who also happened to be a suspect in her current investigation.


	9. Chapter 9

_For all that Zootopia has given every mammal who calls it home a new start, there are still those who insist on maintaining the same ideals that they clung to on the surface. It seems to be mammalkind's nature to remain unchanging; a thief will always be a thief. I can see there's no changing that now. And criminals must be dealt with accordingly._

Carmelita Montoya, _"Mammalkinds Nature"_

* * *

Judy was halfway across the lobby before her ears perked up, catching the refrains of a song over the babble of the crowded room. She'd been lost in thought – about the street fight, about the case, about Carmelita's possible involvement in it – and welcomed the respite. Upon hearing the soft refrains of piano, she thought that it might be Cam, but as the pair of mammals in front of the instrument drifted across the lobby, she saw that it wasn't her wolf friend at the bench, but a zebra.

Just for a moment, Judy lost herself in the music, standing there in the middle of the Morpheus' lobby, garment bags slung across her shoulder, eyes closed as she shifted from side to side, swaying in time to the music. Her mind wrestled with the refrains, trying to piece the notes together; the music was achingly familiar. The notes slid into place as she began humming along – it was one of the songs she'd sung down in the Warren, only this rendition was for a solo piano as opposed to a bigger band.

 _The band_. Judy's eyes snapped open. _The band!_ She'd been so caught up thinking about the case, she'd forgotten about her cover in the band! Eyes darting to the clock which hung over reception, a sigh escaped her; she still had time before she had to meet up with the others for rehearsal. Not a lot of time, but enough.

Nimbly dancing around the patrons of the resort, the bunny darted down the hallway, a grey blur zipping through the mahogany and crimson hallways. She toyed briefly with the idea of going up to her room to deposit her purchases but decided against it; in all likelihood, she'd just have to go back up there to change into them later, and with the extra time before the band was supposed to meet up, she could go through the songs on her own. _Don't want to look_ too _out of practice for the guys._

It wasn't until she'd opened the band room door that Judy realized not _all_ the music she'd been hearing was being piped through the city-mandated speakers. A wave of soulful piano music rolled over her as the door swung open, and she wondered how she'd ever mistaken the zebra's clumsy fumbling's for her friend's playing. There was an element to the music, a feeling, a passion that poured through the wolf hunched over the piano's keys, reverberating through the notes and into the soul of the listener. As the crescendo's and mordents rolled past her, the doe could feel a scene being painted through the music; the tune, while unfamiliar, was grand, with a gentle rolling motif that hinted at an underlying potential for violence… Letting the door swing shut behind her, it almost felt as if Judy had instead stepped forth onto the Jackalope, gazing over the vast expanse of the ocean as the deck rolled over the sea's crests and troughs as the ship sailed towards a tempest on the horizon.

And then Cam's paw slipped.

That was the only explanation she could think of for the sudden jarring of notes that was torn from the large instrument. The wolf at the bench tensed, shoulders drawing in even more as his paws shuffled across the keys and the music resumed from a point several bars earlier. Once more, the music swelled from the piano only to yet again come to a jarring halt. As Judy gently laid her purchases across a table, her ears twitched as a new sound accompanied the music; the pianist was _growling_. The music didn't even reach the same spot before once more falling apart, and with renewed vigor the wolf once again launched himself into the sheet music, but the rabbit's keen hearing picked up the harsh ticking noise of the wolf's claws dragging across the keys. His paws had barely gone through a bar of the music before a discordant jangle emerged from the tortured instrument. With a savage snarl, the wolf pushed himself away from the piano, knocking over the bench behind him, shoulders hunched, hackles raised, ears pinned back and teeth bared as he glared at the inanimate object.

When the wolf's ears flicked slightly and he turned his glare onto her, Judy realized that her gasp of shock had been noticed by the predator. Meeting his gaze, the doe was struck by just how angry her friend was. Not just angry, _furious_. "Well," the canine spat, "Look who came crawling back."

Judy blinked at the wolf before her. "What?"

With another savage snarl, the wolf began pacing the floor before the confused rabbit. "Got tired of playing detective, did you? Or did that fox finally scare you off?"

"No, I… Why are you acting like this, Cam?" Judy looked over the wolf before her; he _looked_ like the pianist she'd come to count as a friend, his voice _sounded_ the same, but he was acting like a completely different mammal.

"Oh, why am _I_ acting like this?" Whirling back to face the rabbit, the wolf stalked closer, teeth bared. " _I'm_ not the one who came crawling to us in the beginning! _I'm_ not the one who buggered off the moment I got a 'better option'! _I'm_ not the one who came slinking back when goings got tough!" The once-friendly wolf's snarl turned into a sneer. "Let me guess; people wouldn't take a cutesy little bunny seriously." The wolf scoffed, taking a step back. "Not surprising."

"Hey now!" Returning his glare with full force, Judy took a step forward. "That's not it at all! And what did I say about calling me cute!? It isn't-"

Judy was cut off as Cam stepped forward with another growl, eyeing her dismissively. His eyes, normally a soothing blue-grey of a calm ocean, were now just as cold and furious as a tempest. "What're you going to do? Sing it all better with your _cute_ little songs? Pelt me with carrots? Ooh, send your hundreds of children at me? That's all you bunnies are good for, right?"

The rabbit was seeing red now. She didn't care that she needed this cover for the case, she didn't care that this wolf had once been one of her friends, no-one, _no-one_ talked to her like that. "Screw you too, Cam! At least _I_ can still perform!" Judy ignored the hurt that flared up behind the wolf's eyes. "I don't need this from you – if anything, I'm doing you guys a favour! Without me, you would still be another pack of nobodies in the Warren! It took _me_ to get you noticed! And so what if bunnies are good at multiplying? At least _I_ don't need to go to a nudist club to get mammals to see me in the fur!"

"Fuck you!" Cam snarled, stalking back to the piano.

Seeing as half the slurs slung had been quite lewd, Judy had no problem with continuing along the path as she angrily blew a kiss at the wolf, snatching up her purchases before storming towards the door. "At least people want to!"

The rabbit paused at the door. With her temper running high, blood coursing through her veins as her heart beat a thundering tattoo, even her keen rabbit hearing almost hadn't detected it, but there in the room behind her was the last sound she'd ever thought to hear.

Crying.

Choked back and muffled, there was definitely a hitching of breath and desperate sniffing, and a portion of Judy was pleased by the outcome. That portion was quickly beat into submission by the vastly greater part of Judy's conscience which was regaining control of her wild temper, already berating herself for having spoken so many poisonous words. The doe stood there, hand still on the handle, as she took several deep breaths, reigning in her emotions even further. Releasing a shuddering breath and the last of her pent-up anger with it, she turned back to the room behind her.

As when she'd first entered, her canine colleague sat on the righted bench, hunched over the piano's keys, but this time his arms were clenched around himself rather than over the keys. Cautiously, quietly, Judy once more relinquished her bundles to the realm of the table before approaching the wolf. "Cam?"

The canine's breath hitched for a moment before a strangled response came from the wreck of the wolf. "Just… Just go away, Judy."

Blinking away the moisture of her own eyes, Judy took another step closer. "Cam… You… I… I'm sorry." Judy took another shuddering breath as she drew closer to the wolf. "You know I didn't mean any of those things I said, right?"

The wolf nodded in silence, biting back another sob. "I… I'm sorry too, Judy… It's just… I… I…" The pianist toppled forward off the bench, clutching at his shaking head as he landed on his knees, his entire body shuddering. "I don't know what's happening to me!" As he peered back at the rabbit behind him, Judy suspected he couldn't see her at all through the sheen of liquid covering his eyes. Without a second thought, she closed the distance between the two of them as quickly as she could, embracing the predator in a hug. Cameron, for his own part, clutched at Judy as would a drowning mammal to a piece of driftwood. "I'm just… _so angry_ … all the time!" The larger mammal shakily breathed out his confession. "I just… I _hate_ everything! I don't know why, I can't stop it, I can't help it! I know I shouldn't, but it's just… I'm fine one moment, and then the next I want to see the world _burn_!"

Judy kept hugging the wolf, but her eyes were wide and nose was twitching at an astounding rate. When she'd heard earlier that something was off with the wolf, she'd been concerned, but she'd never imagined it was something like _this_. "Have you tried talking to someone about this?"

Cam scoffed. "I went to a shrink when this all started…" His head drooped onto Judy's shoulder. "She laughed at me."

The fiery passion from their fight was back, but this time in outrage for her friend. Judy hugged the wolf tighter for a moment before drawing back, frowning at him. "Well, _she_ deserves to burn! I hope you reported her."

"To who?"

Judy was about to reply when she stopped, realizing that she didn't know _who_ to report something like this to. Of Zootopia's leaders, it was doubtful that Leodore Lionheart would have a paw in these sorts of events, and while Judy was sure that Carmelita would also be outraged by her friend's unprofessional treatment, she didn't think it actually broke any of Zootopia's laws, and as for the lamb she'd seen on her first day in the city… Judy couldn't even remember her name, let alone what her realm of influence was. "Maybe talk to another therapist? They could help, and probably know who to report that first one to."

A growl began building in the wolf's chest, reverberating so that even Judy could feel it. "Just as likely that the next one wouldn't be any help, either… 'Go for a howl, blow off some steam'…"

"Hey now!" Judy glared at the wolf, but softened her features, reaching up a paw to caress his cheek. "Not everyone in this city's that bad. Just look at the band; we're all here for you." Judy shrugged, nodding a head at the space between the two of them. " _I'm_ here if you need anything."

Cameron's growl slowly morphed into a chuckle, a slight grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Does that include seeing me in the fur?"

Judy laughed as she squirmed out of the wolf's grip. "Very funny, Cam." Her laughter came bubbling back as the wolf playfully pouted. "I at least expect to be bought dinner, first." The grumbling from her stomach was well timed, reminding the doe that she'd had nothing to eat since the tarts Mr. Yakerman had brought in that morning.

"Ah, blast!" Wiping away the residual moisture from the fur beneath his eyes, Cameron shook his head. "I can't do that, the food's free for us here!" His smile disappeared, and a playfully serious look overtook his features. "Seriously, their dessert platter? It's to die for!"

"There's the wolf I know!" Judy grinned as the pair laughed; she was glad that the old Cam was back, even if only for the moment. She'd make sure to talk to Leo about the situation later, and maybe talk to Carmelita about the therapist situation, but for now she felt that spending time with the troubled wolf was the best thing to do.

* * *

"So, Slick, what've you found?"

That evening's performance had gone splendidly. After her talk with Cam, the rest of the band had arrived for rehearsal; there had been a few snags, but nothing that they couldn't overcome. The songs had come back to Judy as though her last performance at the _Siren's Call_ had only been the night before. Once on stage, it felt like… Like… Judy couldn't describe that feeling. The band, she knew, had always deserved better than what they'd received down in the Warren, and the stage at the Morpheus fit them like a glove. The grand ballroom, now filled with tables set for dinner and illuminated by crystal chandeliers suspended over the heads of dozens of Zootopia's best in all their finery, had buzzed with life and vigour in a way that their measly room in the Warren never had. After the meals had been served and cleared, the space in front of the stage was opened to dancers and patrons to appreciate the music. Judy had enjoyed every moment of it, and struggled not to get too swept up in it; the entire time, she tried to keep an eye on the audience, but their shifting numbers and the lights on the stage made it nearly impossible. She was pleased to note her foxy co-worker mingling amongst the crowds, however, and when it came time for the musicians to pack it in for the night, the doe was especially pleased to see Nick waiting by the side of the stage for her.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm actually looking for someone." Judy raised a brow at her companion's remark, but the vulpine continued before she could interject. "Perhaps you've seen her? About yea high, cute little rabbit, has an air of constant disapproval for everything I do?"

Judy's foot beat away at the floor as she struggled not to grin… or slug the fox. _Have to remain professional_ , she reminded herself, _the staff can't go around beating up the guests_ … _Yet_. "Oh, that's alright," she said aloud instead. "I thought you were someone I know. Annoying fox, terrible fashion sense? Never knows when to keep his mouth shut?"

The fox merely smirked. "You weren't as bad as I thought you'd be up there."

"Thanks," the doe replied in a flat tone. "And?"

Nick sucked at his teeth in thought for a moment. "Your dress highlights your curves nicely?"

Judy wasn't sure if her paw wanted to smack her own face or his for that. Instead, she just clenched it by her side for a moment before speaking through gritted teeth. "Any suspects?" She hissed.

"None that jump out just yet," Nick shook his head, turning to survey the crowded ballroom. "From what I've gathered, most of the guests here aren't residents, they're just here for the food."

"We'll need to cross-check the reservation list with the nights of the robberies, then…" Judy mused, before looking back up at Nick. "Did you learn anything at all?"

Gasping as he held a paw to his chest, Nick gave the doe a look of practiced innocence. "Madam! Are you suggesting that I spent the entire evening slacking off?"

Judy merely gave the fox a flat look. "Wouldn't be the first time, Slick."

"Eh, fair." The fox shrugged. "But for your information, I have actually been busy socializing. Have to get a scope on my competition somehow."

Rolling her eyes, Judy nodded. "Right, the lottery."

" _Poker tournament_ ," Nick gave Judy an affronted look. "Lottery's just luck; poker involves skill, knowing the odds, being able to read your opponent… It's very different, Fluff." Chuckling as his rabbit companion's foot began thumping again, Nick returned to the task at hand, pointing out notable figures around the room. "As for actual residents at the hotel, we have the brown bear over there, a Mr. Preysing, used to be some manufacturing tycoon on the surface, supplied a lot of the building materials for Zootopia. The young cougar next to him is Miss Elizabeth Concol, his secretary. She doesn't actually live here, but since Mr. Preysing does all of his work out of the hotel, she might as well. Rumor has it he has a thing for her, but she fancies Baron Sylvester Barrelsmith, the raccoon over there. The elderly schnauzer next to _him_ is Otto Kringelein; he made a fortune on the surface… Somehow, and is now living it up down here for his remaining years. Of course," Nick smirked, looking at the table, "I don't need to tell you who's currently draped over the Baron's arm," and indeed he didn't; although she looked considerably different in formal eveningwear, Judy would recognize the Inspector anywhere. Her eyes were drawn briefly to the raccoon next to Carmelita before snapping back as Nick continued his rundown of the resort's notable patrons. "Constable Neyla should also be around here somewhere… Ah, yes, there she is, dancing with Lord Connor Arnway. From what I've gathered, that ocelot, Barrelsmith, and, oh, where did he go…" Nick's gaze drifted around the room for several seconds before landing on a wombat currently talking with the bartender, a rather bookish looking turtle. With a snap of his fingers, he pointed out the mammal in question. "There! The wombat, Anton Neer. He was in charge of the company behind most of Zootopia's construction. He, the Baron, and Lord Arnway are all also taking part in the tournament. The other participants are all of no worries, but those three… Them, I'll have to keep an eye on."

Judy looked over the crowd, eyeing the figures pointed out to her. _One of them_ … The whole affair still made her feel ill, but knowing that the culprit was one of the… A quick count showed eight. One of the eight mammals in front of her was behind the string of robberies. _Wait._ Turning her gaze back to her companion, she frowned. "Eight? Really? Just them?"

Nick shrugged, subtly pulling one of his paws out of his dinner jacket's pocket. When he nudged Judy's side with it, Judy looked at the fox's paw, where was held a small slip of white paper. Judy examined the sheet, which had the eight mammals listed, as well as a slew of others who'd had their names crossed out. "While you were taking it easy backstage, _I_ met up with the head of security. Sure, there are other mammals who live here, but most of them were either on camera, or out of the building when the thefts went down. Or," he smirked as the doe's purple gaze returned to him, "they aren't here right now."

"Ah." Judy nodded, tucking the slip into her purse as she looked back to the crowd. After a moment of silence, she returned her attention back to the fox. "Who are they?"

"Why I'd be delighted to!"

Judy blinked in shock, first at the fox's loud outburst, then again with a startled 'Eep!' as said fox dragged her onto the dance floor. A blush struggled to rise on the startled doe's features as her companion slipped one paw around her waist, the other holding her right paw elevated. "What're you doing?!" she hissed, glaring as the smug fox started swaying from side to side.

The fox smirked as his gaze met that of his companion's, his feet carrying them around the dancefloor. "We were standing staring at the crowd, Fluff," he casually explained. "Do that for too long, and we were bound to draw unwanted attention. I figured it would be better to blend in, but if you disagree…"

As loath as she was to admit it, her companion did have a point. Standing by the stage, they had hardly been inconspicuous in their observation of the gathered suspects. Nevertheless… "You could have given me a heads up," the doe groused.

Her companion chuckled softly as they glided across the dancefloor. "And where would the fun be in that?"

Shaking her head with a sigh, Judy struggled to keep up with her companion's footwork. "Back to the matter at paw; who else has rooms here?"

"You're no fun at all, you know that, right, Fluff?" Ignoring the rabbit's exasperated expression, Nick continued with his rundown of the Morpheus' guest list. "A list of Zootopia's elite would hardly be complete without Miss Bellwether and Mr. Lionheart. _Technically_ , they both have suites here, but they hardly ever stay on site."

Halting their movements as the song ended, Nick's smirk remained unaffected as he bowed to his partner, but before they could carry on with their conversation an unfamiliar voice cut in.

"May I have the pleasure of the next dance?"

Turning to the newcomer, Judy struggled to keep the surprise from her features as she found herself addressed by one of the very suspects she and her partner were discussing. Lord Arnway, for his part, merely maintained his charismatic grin as the doe before him blinked in surprise. "I… uh…" Briefly looking to her vulpine companion, Judy was mildly irked at her own surprise to find his attention drawn by her current conversation partner's former dance partner, before he and the Bengal tigress swept away onto the dance floor. Supressing a huff, Judy returned her attention back to the ocelot. "I don't see why not, although I don't believe I've had the pleasure?"

Lifting one of her paws, the ocelot bowed over it, brushing the fur of her paw with his lips. "Lord Arnway, but I do hope you'll call me Connor, mademoiselle."

Despite her best attempts, Judy felt a bit flustered by the lord's charm. "Only if you'll call me Judy," she managed in reply.

"But of course!" With a grin that would rival Nick's for charisma, the ocelot stepped forward, sliding a paw around Judy's waist, if a bit lower than absolutely necessary. "I must say, you were truly delightful to listen to on stage."

"I… well, thank you, but really, it's the others who do most of the work." Judy's gaze dropped as she struggled to follow the noble's smooth steps, back and forth, side to side.

"Not at all! At best, they provide the canvas on which your voice paints a masterpiece!"

"Lay it on any thicker, Mr. Arnway, and I may very well suffocate."

"That obvious, was I?" Judy merely let out a hum as the ocelot laughed. "What can I say? It's rare that I find such a specimen as yourself."

"Air! Air! I can't breathe!" Judy's dance partner tossed his head back, letting loose a guffaw at the doe's response.

"I can see why Nick's taken such a shine to you!"

"You know Nick?" Judy's previously joking manner was swept aside by this new information. The ocelot, for his part, gave the rabbit a flat look.

"I'm glad to see I left an impression, then." Noting his dance partner's confused expression, he elucidated. "I seem to recall you interrupted one of our poker nights; the last that our mutual friend attended, unless I'm mistaken."

Judy blinked at her companion for a moment, frowning. After a moment of serious consideration, her expression morphed from deep thought to one of surprise. "That's right! You were there with Sly Cooper!"

The ocelot's expression, if anything, grew even less impressed as his attention shifted to the crowd off the dancefloor with a scowl. "Yes, Mister… _Cooper_ and I are… acquainted, I suppose you could say." As he returned his attention to the doe, Connor's charm and smile returned as well. "But that's neither here nor now; we were talking about you, and your stunning performance on stage!" His expression turned to one of slight concern. "Not that I'm complaining, but did the detective work not work out for you? I was under the impression that you'd joined our dear Nicholas in his endeavors."

"No, I'm still-" Judy cut herself off, mentally chastising herself. No matter his charm, the mammal before her was still a suspect. "I needed a change of pace, was all." Judy forced a grin, trying to make it as natural as possible, even if it didn't feel that way. Fortunately, her dance partner didn't seem to notice her near slip of the tongue. "I may have rushed into the whole 'detective' business a bit fast; a part of me still feels more at home on the stage." That, at least, was true; no matter the venue, there _was_ a part of her that thrilled at being the centre of attention, spreading cheer in a city that seemed to be lacking it more and more as of late.

"Well, I, for one, am glad that you decided on the change in career, if it means that I can enjoy seeing you on stage rather than having you follow my every nefarious move!" As Judy mimed gasping for air, Connor let out another guffaw. "Alright, alright, I understand!" His charismatic grin morphed to one of genuine joy. "All suave charm aside, Judy, it truly is a pleasure to hear you sing."

Judy, for her part, didn't bother hiding her blush as her gaze dropped, abashed by the noble's sincere tone. "Well, I… Thank you."

Connor's gaze softened. "I speak only the truth, mademoiselle. You have the voice of an angel."

Never had Judy been so grateful for the end of a song. Flustered as she had been, she wasn't sure that she would have been able to keep up with the footwork of the dance. A moment later, however, as Lord Arnway was bowing his gratitude to his partner, Judy found herself wishing that the dance was still going.

"You don't mind if I borrow Miss Hopps for a moment, do you Lord Connor?" Lord Arnway's sneer of distaste was as well concealed as Judy's look of apprehension as Carmelita spoke, the newcomer not even waiting for the nobles reply before wrapping an arm around Judy's, leading the confused doe to the vixens' table. "I would advise you keep a close watch on your senses while in Lord Arnway's company if I were you," Carmelita whispered, so quiet and close to Judy's ear that no-one else could possibly overhear, "He's known to be quite the womanizer."

"I see…" Casting a glance back over her shoulder, Judy eyed the ocelot still on the edge of the dancefloor before returning her attention to the vixen. "I suppose I should thank you, then."

"Not at all, Miss Hopps." The inspector's midnight blue tresses swung as she shook her head. "I'm only doing my duty. After all, us girls must watch each others back, no?"

Upon returning to the inspector's table, the two males still seated there stood, albeit one considerably more unsteadily than the other.

"Good evening, ladies!" The elderly Schnauzer slurred as he put a paw down on the tabletop, steadying himself. "The Baron here was just telling me about this _wonderful_ drink I've been having! It's the… Mooey something. Most delightful!"

With a good-natured and long suffering smile, the raccoon next to the canine gently guided his companion back to his seat. "Indeed, it is," the Baron said in a rich voice, "but it would appear that you've had one too many, old socks!"

"Nonsense!" Weakly struggling against the raccoon's restraining paw, the schnauzer soon gave up his efforts, instead gazing around the room. "Waiter! Waiter! Oh, where's the blasted help when you need it?" Kringelein's head dropped to the table, the fur around his snout puffing out as he let out an exasperated huff.

Giving the canine a companionable pat on the shoulder, the Baron said with a smile, "You sit tight, old socks, I'll fetch you something to drink." Looking up, the raccoon turned to the two females at the table. "And you, ladies? Would either of you care for a drink?"

"Just a water for me thanks." Judy looked down in surprise as she felt a paw rest on her arm. Following the appendage back to its owner, she found Carmelita looking at her with a wry grin as the vixen shook her head.

"Tonight's a night for celebration, Miss Hopps." Carmelita turned her gaze to the raccoon. "Would you be a dear and see if you could bring us some champagne, Baron?"

"Of course!" With a swish of his tail, the raccoon disappeared into the crowd, meandering his way over to the turtle behind the bar.

Judy watched the retreating raccoon for a moment before returning her attention to the vixen next to her. "I can't shake the feeling that I've seen him somewhere before."

Carmelita nodded understandingly while keeping an eye on the canine, who had yet to move from his slumped position. "I had the same impression when we first met, but I'm sure I'd remember if I'd seen Baron Barrelsmith before."

"I suppose you're right." Tabling the matter for later consideration, Judy returned her attention to the Inspector. "What is it we're celebrating?"

"Why, your arrival!" Carmelita's grin grew warm as she looked the doe in the eye. "For tonight, Judy, you are the living embodiment of what Zootopia stands for. You are _proof_ that with enough drive and perseverance, anyone can rise from the lowest depths to become anything they want! I believe that deserves a toast, do you not?"

"Well, I'm game for drinks if you're the one buying!" Carmelita's grin became notably forced upon the arrival of her cousin, his arm draped around the shoulders of her subordinate. "Nice to see you with your hair down, cous'."

"And nice to see you putting an effort into your appearance. Is that a new cologne, or have you finally learned to bathe?" Making a show of counting the chairs around the table, Carmelita gave the two newcomers an overly sorrowful look. "I'm sorry, but it looks like there won't be enough seats at this table." All pretenses of civility left her tone as she glared at her cousin. "Perhaps you should try your luck on the other side of the room."

Much to the vixen's obvious consternation a pair of empty seats were pushed into place behind the two newcomers, quickly followed by a third as the spotted feline from earlier joined the ever-growing numbers of the table. "Nonsense, my dear!" Connor chimed in with a smug grin. "There's always room when my favorite ladies are involved!" He looked around the table with a puzzled frown. "I heard mention of a toast; what are we toasting?"

"Anything you want!" The other mammals at the table started as the Schnauzer launched himself back up from the surface, almost knocking the bottle and glasses from the returning raccoon's paws.

"We seem to have grown in numbers. I'm afraid I didn't bring enough glasses…"

"No need to fret Ol' Ironsides any more than she already is; I'll be back in a jiffy." As Neyla disappeared of to the bar, the Baron distributed what glasses he had on hand; Otto received one which was already filled, and by the time he'd passed out the rest to the tables original occupants, the Bengal Tigress had returned with the rest of the champagne flutes.

Upon filling the glasses with the freshly popped champagne, the Baron lifted his glass. "In celebration of our meeting!"

"A toast!" The schnauzer sloshed half the liquid out of his glass as he raised it, leaning heavily on the raccoon beside him. "To friends who are here!"

After the first two, the rest of the table merrily chimed in with a variety of cheers in numerous languages, many of which Judy had never heard of before. She couldn't tell if the way that Connor and Neyla were trading toasts in rapid succession was a way for them to show their competitive spirit or just an unorthodox way of flirting, but by her third glass she found she no longer cared.

"What did you give him?" Carmelita asked the Baron worriedly, eyeing the schnauzer as he snored onto the table.

"Only a glass of sarsaparilla; I figured he'd had enough to drink for one evening." Glancing briefly at his pocket watch, the raccoon tucked the device away with a sigh. "Well, as pleasant as this evening has been, I'm afraid I must turn in for the night." Gently helping the canine to his feet, Sylvester nodded to the rest of the group. "Good night, all."

"I suppose it is that time, isn't it?" Standing from his spot, Connor held out a paw to Neyla. "May I help you to your room?"

"I'd be _delighted_ ," Neyla purred in response.

Pushing herself unsteadily to her feet as well, Judy nodded to the tables remaining occupants. "I should get going as well… Pra-ctice tomorrow and… all that."

Walking as steadily as she could, Judy managed to get most of the way through the room before knocking into a pair of chairs. "Oh, sorry…" she managed to the bear and cougar who turned to the interruption.

"Watch where you're going!" The bear huffed indignantly, only settling when his companion placed a paw on his arm.

"Go easy on her, Herman; it's late, and she's had a touch too much to drink."

Snorting, the bear returned his glare to the doe. "Serves her right. On your way!"

Fortunately for the young bunny, the rest of her trip back to her room passed uneventfully. Struggling momentarily to get her key into the lock, she almost tumbled into the dark room when the door finally gave way. Looking back down the hallway behind her, she was half tempted to return downstairs upon realizing that she'd left all the rest of her new dresses in the bands practice room, but flailed a paw in that general direction instead with a light 'Bah.' It would be a problem for Morning Judy.

Kicking the door behind her shut, it took Judy a moment to find the light switch, squinting as light assaulted her eyes. Ignoring the rest of the room, she made a bee-line for the door to the bedroom, tempted to collapse onto it without even worrying about her dress or jewelry until the morning.

Her ears snapped upright at the sound of a key at the lock. Turning slowly, she saw the handle to her door jiggle. Sprinting to the door, she shoved herself beside the frame just as the door slowly opened, letting light from the hallway spill in. As soon as the door was pushed in far enough for a black paw to be seen, Judy grabbed a hold of the offending appendage, giving it a sharp twist to pin it behind the intruders back and force them onto the floor. "Just what do you think you're doing… _Nick_?!"

Pinned beneath the bunny, face scrunched up in pain, was indeed her co-worker. The fox managed to squint an eye up at his captor, giving her a slight glare. "Nice to see you too, Fluff, but if it's alright with you, I think I'll skip the roughhousing for tonight, thanks."

Scrambling off her partner, Judy first clasped her paws to her mouth, and then hurriedly tried to help the fox to his feet. "Oh my gosh, Nick! I'm so sorry! I didn't think… I mean- Wait a minute!" Pulling back from the half-raised fox, who promptly collapsed on the floor again with a muffled 'Oof', Judy glared at the prone vulpine. "What are you doing, sneaking into my room!"

Pushing himself up onto his elbows, Nick gave Judy a flat look before holding out a key. "My key, my room, Fluff. What are _you_ doing here?"

Judy looked between the key held out to her to the one still clasped in her own paws for several seconds before her face scrunched into a grimace. "Of all the… I'm going to skin that lion for a rug next time I get my paws on him!"

"Just so long as it's not my pelt you're going after!" Pulling himself up and dusting his clothes off, Nick warily eyed the angry bunny. "What's got your cottontail in a twist?"

"Leo," Judy huffed. "When he said that accommodations would be a bit cramped, I didn't think… Ugh…" Turning on her heel, Judy once more walked to the bedroom, if a bit more angrily this time.

"So… We sharing a bed then, or…?" The fox's question was answered by a pillow to the face.

"You're getting the couch, and counting yourself lucky!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **First off, sorry for the wait for this chapter! I have a reason! Said reason starts off reasonably enough, and then takes a turn for the shameful, I'm afraid.**

 **Reasonable portion: basically as soon as I'd posted the previous chapter, I got smacked in the face by writer's block. I knew where the story was to go, characters to introduce and little hints for the arc/story's completion for those of you who enjoy trying to figure everything out beforehand (Any of you know who the thief is? Or the other thing going on behind the scenes? I hope you'll be surprised!) But nevertheless, I couldn't get anything down on paper.**

 **So, as I usually do in such conditions, I followed Hemingway's advice: 'Write Drunk, Edit Sober'.**

 **This worked for the first time. Second try, drunk-me got tired of being used as a battering ram, and so went off the rails.**

 **Drunk me wrote a page and a half intro to another story I've been bandying about with. Drunk me then decided to go easy on sober me, and wrote two paragraphs for this chapter.**

 **Drunk me then liked a throwaway line they'd written, and decided to go with that instead.**

 **And now for the Shameful Portion: The above line is how I now have a smut-chapter for '1,000 Fathoms Below' on my computer.**

 **It's... surprisingly good, I'm afraid to say. I've never written anything like it before, never thought I would, and yet it's in my style, in the setting, characters are still in character, little hints are still being dropped... But it's still an accidental porn chapter that doesn't necessarily fit with the story line. Imagine a 'tear' from Bioshock Infinite: the worlds they visit _could_ have happened, but if they had, the game wouldn't have ended the way it was supposed to.**

 **And so, my dear readers, I don't think it'll be posted in this story. (Maybe a spinoff... Dunno.)**

 **End of reason explanation!**

 **Secondly, thank you all who read, favorited and followed! No new reviews, so can't thank them, but I swear, I don't bite! I thrive off them! They've helped more than I feel comfortable explaining!**

 **Thirdly! I realized that hoisting a pirate flag likely scared Zanrok off! I apologize, it's a clever disguise! See? I come bearing gifts of coffee!**

 **And now I've run out of steam for things to say. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and hopefully there will be another posted sooner than the last!**

 **~R**


	10. Chapter 10

**I suppose I should probably, you know, address/reply to the reviews I've received. Meant to do so for a while, just... Haven't.**

 **Sorry!**

 **Fox in the hen house: I swear, this pirate costume is a disguise so that I can sneak all this delicious, delicious coffee in to him! (Real-life note: about a week after I posted about *cough* totally not joining a pirate crew, *cough* a coworker of mine came up to me out of the blue, saying that he remembered my mentioning being into musicals in highschool and happens to be part of a group putting on one, would I be interested in auditioning for none-other than Pirates of Penzance? MY REALITY-WARPING WRITING STRIKES AGAIN!) Glad you're enjoying the story, and the new faces. They're gonna feature a fair bit in this arc (Surprise, I know!), so I figured a proper introduction was warranted for them. Also, an author friend of mine suffers from a similar condition - we should form a support group, 'Authors Against Wayward Brains'.**

 **Uranium235: I explain my stance on Plasmids in this story a bit later in the chapter, but in short: In game (and book, going by 'Rapture') Plasmids were developed initially for their mundane, suburban aspects. 'Jump-start this generator!' 'Warm up your coffee!' 'Pollinate these trees!' It wasn't until the fall of Rapture that they became so wide-spread in their use in combat. Never fear, though, more Plasmids will show up in later chapters (read into that what you will, muahaha). Also, despite what this totally non-piratical shipping manifest says, there will be no romantic relations between Judy and Nick in the main story. The side-shoot I mentioned last author's note? Maybe. But here? Definitely not.**

 **Now, onto the story.**

* * *

"And that, children," Judy looked down with a smile at the gaggle of mammals before her. She felt a flush of warmth as she took them in, with all their wide eyes and slack jaws, obviously enthralled by the story she was telling them. Grin growing, she continued with her tale, "Is when I knew your father was the mammal for me."

Vera, her eldest daughter, frowned. "But Mom, if you knew then that Dad was, well, Dad, then why'd you make him sleep on the couch?"

Chuckling as she ruffled the fox/rabbit hybrid's fur, Judy leaned in conspiratorially. "He needed to learn a lesson that all males should know - their mate is always right."

"But what about when they're wrong?"

Nick's voice came from the kitchen of the family's apartment. " _Especially_ when they're wrong!"

 **I SAID NO SHIPPING FLUFF! AWAY, YOU CRETIN OF A STORY, YOU'RE GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE ACTUAL PLOT!**

* * *

One of the aspects about life in Zootopia that many of its residents greatly appreciated was the lack of sun. True, the sensation of having one's fur warmed under the bright light of the celestial object was missed, as was the moment when the dark clouds overhead parted, letting the promise of a better day shine through. No, what _was_ appreciated about the star's absence was the fact that it didn't come crawling in through their bedroom windows to drag the unwilling mammals from their sleep at ungodly hours.

As a bunny who grew up on the farm and was used to waking up before the sun rose, Judy never had a chance to appreciate this fact.

Instead, as was her norm, the grey doe woke at 5:30 on the dot. Normally bright eyed and bushy tailed, Judy instead found herself regretting her drinks from the night before, as her entire body felt leaden. Much to her consternation, she found herself still garbed in her dress from the night prior, and groaned as she recalled her impetuous decision to leave her other clothes in the band room downstairs.

As quietly as she could, Judy edged the bedroom door open. Much as had been the case the night before, the main room was mostly undisturbed; a small kitchenette, complete with a stove, oven, sink, and dining table, completed one half of the room, while the other was taken up by a couch, coffee table, and a bookcase. And there, slumped face-down on said couch with his head hanging over an armrest, was her co-worker. Somehow, the fox had managed to scrounge up a blanket to cover himself with, but it had partially slipped off during the night, revealing that the russet and cream coated mammal had decided to shed his outer wear. Much to the rabbit's relief, the fox was still asleep, else she was sure she'd hear no end of teasing from her companion.

Shutting the apartment door behind her, Judy quickly double checked that she still had the key in her purse before heading down to the band room to collect the rest of her clothes. Fortunately, given the early hour, there was no-one around to see her still dressed in last-nights getup, and it gave her time to consider the case.

 _We've got Carmelita, Neyla, Connor, Otto, Sylvester… Anton? Yes, Anton, and… Oh, darn it!_ Briefly digging the list of names from her purse, the doe nodded to herself before tucking it back away. _Herman Preysing and Elizabeth Concol. None of them strike me as having much of a motive; if what Nick said is correct, Mr. Kringelein, Mr. Preysing, and Mr. Neer are all independently wealthy, and so wouldn't need the money, and neither would Baron Barrelsmith or Lord Arnway, seeing as they're both nobility... but there's still something off about the Baron. From what I know of her personally, these thefts go against everything Carmelita stands for, and by proxy Neyla as well. Really, Miss Concol is the only one who'd_ need _the money… But that's assuming it's for the money…_ Judy frowned as she reached the band room, no closer to solving the mystery. _I'll have to have a talk with security,_ she mused as she gathered her new garb, before returning to her shared room. _Maybe the stolen items all have a theme, or history, something for a collector, perhaps?_ Judy resolved to ask Nick for directions to the security chief's office as soon as the vulpine was awake.

The doe wasn't surprised to find her companion still passed out on the couch upon her return. In fact, aside from a slight twitching of his nose and a swish from his tail, she didn't think he'd even moved at all. _Foxes ARE nocturnal, after all,_ Judy figured, shrugging as she entered her bedroom. _Now, I'm going to take the longest, hottest bath in the whole world._ She felt like she needed it; performing on stage, trying to appear unconcerned while dealing with most of the suspects of her case, coupled with the drinks and sleeping the night away in her dress and jewelry… _I'm looking forward to getting out of all of this,_ Judy thought as she reached for the clasp of her bracelet.

…

…

"SON OF A BISCUIT!"

A sudden thump came from the main room, as well as muffled cursing. The door to the bedroom burst open, revealing Nick, naked from the waist up, looking around in startled panic. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"It's my bracelet!" Judy's muffled voice responded from under the bed. A slightly dusty bunny emerged from beneath the furniture, quickly flinging the sheets from the bed. "It's gone!"

"What do you mean, _it's gone_?"

"Just that!" Convinced it wasn't on, in, or under the bed, Judy threw down the sheets in a huff. "It's gone! I was wearing it last night, and now I'm not!"

Nick began poking about the room, examining the beside desk and its drawers. "Did you take it off? Put it in your purse, maybe?"

"No, of course not!" Despite her assurances, Judy frantically pawed through the bag. "No, it's not here. And why would I have taken it off but left the necklace on?" Her paw strayed to her neck, once more checking that the jewelry piece remained.

"I don't know how you bunnies do things!" Briefly poking his nose into the bathroom, he turned to Judy. "Think the thief snatched it?"

Judy gave pause at that. She'd been so focused on figuring out who the hotel's thief was, she hadn't thought that she herself might be targeted. "I… I hope not…" The doe blinked, trying to fight the moistness of her eyes. The fox, seeing his companions distraught state, took a step towards the doe, holding his arms out.

"Come on now, Fluff, no need to go emotional bunny on me," Nick chuckled as his bunny companion entered his grasp, shaking her head against his chest. "It's just a bracelet, right? We'll find it, and the no-good son of a jackal who stole it."

"Don't be rude to jackals, Nick," Judy's indignant voice came muffled from the vulpine's chest. Ignoring his chuckling, she briefly looked up, meeting his gaze. "And it's not _just_ a bracelet, it was my nana's. My pop-pop, he… he gave it to me as a graduation present. And I… I…" Feeling another wave of emotion threatening to overtake her, she shook her head into her companion's chest again, appreciating the way his paws rubbed her on her back.

"And you thought it would be a good idea to wear it, when you _knew_ there was a thief around?" Judy didn't even have to look up to feel Nick shaking his head at her.

"I really am just a dumb bunny."

Nick retreated a step, hooking a knuckle under Judy's jaw to get the doe to look up at him. Meeting his viridian gaze, Judy was surprised at the serious look he was leveling at her. "None of that, Judy, you hear me? We all make mistakes. Besides," he said, his signature smirk emerging, "look at the bright side!"

Sniffling, Judy brushed an arm against her twitching nose. "Wha… What bright side?"

"We now have an item of our own to track down. The bracelet's unique, right?" Nick's smile grew as Judy nodded. "Well, I'll cash in some favors, put out my feelers in pawn shops and black markets for the bracelet. It would be suspicious, looking for someone else's stolen stuff, but our own?" Shrugging, Nick ruffled the fur between Judy's ears as he took a step back. "We may just be able to put a name and face to this thief of ours."

Nodding as she composed herself, Judy couldn't deny the logic behind her co-worker's words. "We could also check in with the security footage," she said as she gave one last sniffle. "See if we can see where and when I last had it on."

"There's the Fluff I know!" Nick pointedly took a sniff, playfully cringing as he took a step back. "May want to wash up first, though, Carrots; you smell like you slept in that dress. But don't worry; I'm sure we'll find something."

* * *

"I can't believe we didn't find out anything!"

Judy was fuming. She and Nick had spent several hours in the cramped security office, scouring the footage from the night before. Somehow, implausibly, _impossibly_ , they had come up with nothing. They could easily see the doe wearing the bracelet in question while on stage, but thanks to her relative height when compared to the other late-night patrons, the positions of the cameras, and just dumb, blind misfortune, the rabbit remained off screen for most of the night. Those few rare times that she _was_ on screen, it was only in portions, and never her paws. To make matters worse, the two security guards in charge of surveillance were next to useless; one, a squirrel, wasn't quite right in the head, believing that everything he saw on screen was in fact a TV show. He, at least, was quite affable, if a bit star struck that his new favorite 'actress' was before him. His partner, on the other hand, had barely spoken a word to the two detectives, seemingly affronted by everything about them. And so it was that with this unhelpful morning behind her, the young doe had departed, meeting up with the band and performing for the lunch crowd, all the while stewing on the loss of her heirloom and lack of information gleaned.

"Really? I found it quite informative."

Looking at her companion in disbelief, Judy felt her ire growing at the fox's omnipresent smug expression. "How? How did _you_ see something that _I_ missed?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at the smaller mammal's tone. "Ah, right," he turned back to the hallway the pair was travelling down, "I forgot, I'm just a pretty face, along for the ride. _You're_ the detective here. No, no, please," the vulpine held up a paw as Judy made to speak, "I'll remember my place from now on."

Letting out some of her tension with a sigh, Judy's shoulders slumped. "Sorry, Nick, I didn't mean to snap… I'm just… That bracelet means a lot to me. I want it back as soon as I can." She grimaced slightly, holding a paw to her stomach. "That, and I'm hungry." The grey bunny gave the fox next to her a playful glare. "You pulled me away so fast, I didn't even have a chance to grab a bite for lunch!"

"Ah, you bunnies," Nick sighed theatrically, "Always so emotional, only ever thinking about your stomachs… Or, well- Ow!" The fox grimaced, rubbing his side. "Help! Security! I'm being assaulted!" Winding up for another punch, Judy gave Nick a look that dared him to continue. "I'll have you know, madam, that I was going to say 'valuables'." Nick's grin grew at the exasperated look that crossed his companions face. "Anyway, there's no need to spoil your appetite; we're heading to lunch right now."

"Oh?" Judy's ears perked up at the mention of food, but she quickly shook her head. "No, wait, food can wait; what did you see in the security footage?"

"Hmm? Oh, right, that. Well, while you were looking for your bauble, I was keeping an eye on the suspects, and I think we can safely rule out one, possibly two."

"Really!" This piece of news did wonders to perk up Judy's mood. "How do you figure?"

Nick began listing off the suspects, ticking off a digit on his paws with each name. "Well, you danced with Connor, before being pulled away by Carmelita to her table. Neyla sat next to you, and then you were served by Sylvester. After _numerous_ drinks, shame on you, by the way, drinking while on duty? Tsk tsk. Anyway, at the end of the night, you bumped into Herman and Elizabeth." The fox looked briefly at his companion. "Sound about right?"

"M-hmm," Judy nodded.

Nick tossed his paws in the air, scattering the imagined names to the air-conditioned wind. "And there you have it! Of all our suspects, Anton was never even _near_ you, and Otto was as good as passed out on the table the entire night!"

There was a definite spring in Judy's step as she considered the information. "You're right!" She concluded. "There's no way it could have been Mr. Neer, and unless Mr. Kringelein is a magician, it couldn't have been him, either!"

"My thoughts exactly. And besides, we probably would have noticed your bracelet floating around mid-air."

"What? Oh, right, plasmids." Judy's brow furrowed in consternation; in all of the hubbub about the case, she'd completely forgotten about the technical marvel inherent in Zootopia. They'd been flashy and new when she'd first arrived, but in the months since, they'd grown almost common place; a mammal would light a cigarette with a flick of a paw here, a waiter would have an extra tray float along behind him there… They'd become just another aspect of the Zootopian lifestyle. "We'll have to keep an eye out for that…" the doe mused, before shrugging with a smile. "At least there's not one that lets you walk through walls!" Hearing a 'hrmm…' from beside her, Judy looked at her companion with concern. "Right?"

"Well, teleportation doesn't technically let you walk through walls…" Nick mused, before shaking his head. "It only lets you travel from point 'A' to 'B', it's hardly inconspicuous. You need line of sight, and your arrival and departure is basically announced with an explosion of confetti."

"Ugh… I hate it when you're right…" Judy could have kicked herself; she'd _seen_ an example of teleportation up close and personal. True, it had been a while ago, and true, she'd been more concerned with getting the insufferable Mr. Wilde to accept her as a business partner, but when she'd interrupted their little 'poker' game, it was that plasmid which had allowed Sly Cooper to escape. Remembering that raccoon, with his smug charm and cheeky little wave as he'd left gave the rabbit reason to pause.

"Carrots?"

Judy blinked, giving her head a quick shake. She hadn't noticed that her steps had slowed to a halt, leaving her standing alone in the hallway as Nick carried on. It was only when he'd come to a halt in front of the elevator that he'd noticed he'd left his companion behind. With a sudden clarity, Judy locked eyes with Nick. "I know who did it!"

Nick stared at his companion in silence for a moment. " _How?_ "

"It's Sly Cooper!" Judy's enthusiasm was dampened when her companion burst out laughing, quickly turning into indignation as the fox's mirth carried on _far_ longer than was necessary. Doubled over with a paw on the wall to keep himself upright, Nick's guffaws slowly died as he wiped at his eyes.

"Whoo… Thanks for that, Carrots, I needed that!" Looking back at his companion, his expression turned serious when he saw the barely contained anger hiding beneath the bunny's features. "Oh, wait, you're serious."

"Of course I'm serious! It makes perfect sense!"

Nick cut off Judy before she could launch into her tirade. "Sorry, Fluff, but actually? It makes no sense." Once more, the fox began ticking off his points. "First, he's not even one of the suspects. Second, he wasn't there last night, and the most important third, it's not his M. O."

"First," Judy countered, "Yes, he is, and second, yes he was!" The rabbit tossed her paws in the air with a look of absolute befuddlement. "It's the Baron! It was _always_ the Baron! He's a raccoon, Sly's a raccoon, they both seem to have a thing for Carmelita, heck, it's right there in the name! Short version of Sylvester? Sly! What's a Cooper? A person who makes barrels! Like a barrel smith! I can't believe it took me this long to figure out!" A look of dawning disbelief appeared on the doe's face. "I can't believe the _Inspector_ hasn't figured it out!"

Looking back at her companion, Judy was surprised that she couldn't get a good read on him. From what she _could_ decipher, there was confusion, surprise, comprehension, and… something else. She didn't know what it was, but it worried her. As soon as the fox noticed that his companion was examining him, however, his face quickly cleared. "Be that all as it may, it still doesn't explain away point number three. Sly's a thief, yes, but a thief with a code. He doesn't steal from just _anyone_ , he only ever steals from other thieves."

"Oh, so he's what, a modern-day Robin Hood?"

"Basically," Nick nodded as he stepped forward into the lift. "And last time I checked, you haven't stolen anything, have you, Fluff?"

"Only your heart, I'm sure."

The fox visibly recoiled as the doe smirked. "That was bad, Carrot's. Leave the cheesy one-liners to me."

"Well," Judy huffed, crossing her arms and turning up her nose, "I can tell when my talent isn't appreciated." Her playful tone dropped as she cast an eye in the direction of her partner. "I'm serious, though; pretty sure it's Cooper."

Nick shook his head as lift rattled upwards. "It still doesn't fit his style!"

"People change! Just look at us!" Seeing her companion un-swayed, Judy tried for a compromise. "We should at least report him to Carmelita."

"Why?"

Taken aback by Nick's tone, Judy struggled for the words to explain what was so obvious to her. "He's broken the law! It's the right thing to do!"

"So have I." Gone was the fox's casually cheery expression, replaced by one much more serious, and much, much harder. "I've jaywalked, I've sped, I've stolen, occasionally partaken in illegal drugs… heck, most of my hustles bent the law so hard, it screamed. Are you going to turn me in, too?" His expression lightened somewhat as he turned to his friend, but he pressed on. "It's as you said, people _change_. Maybe he's gone legit now, just as I have. All I'm saying is innocent until proven guilty, right?"

"But he _has_ been guilty! His rap sheet's probably longer than I am tall!"

Nick's expression lightened even more as his mouth quirked into a smile. "That isn't that hard, Fluff." Chuckling lightly as the rabbit beside him huffed, Nick turned back to the elevator doors, watching as the needle indicating their floor slowly rose. "Yes, sure, he's done some questionable things in the past, but it's always been for the greater good."

"How?"

"Sure, he may be near the top of almost every agency's 'Most Wanted' list on the surface, but the reason he's that high is because he's helped take down those above him." Noting the look of surprise on his companion's face, Nick's smile returned in full. "He's been instrumental in overthrowing eco-terrorists, mafia empires, cults, warlords, drug rings, corrupt officials… You name it, and I'm pretty sure somewhere along the line Sly's taken them down. I seem to recall a certain cute little bunny telling me once upon a time to not be so quick in judging her; all I'm saying is return the favor."

The pair remained silent for the rest of the ride up. Judy wasn't sure what was going through the fox's head, but inside her own was a maelstrom of thoughts. Was what Nick said true? Could there be more than black-and-white, right-and-wrong to Cooper? What did that say about Carmelita, and her hunt for the criminal? What about herself? Was she just looking for a convenient scapegoat, or were her instincts correct? If not him, then who? The list of suspects was down to seven, possibly six, and yet she felt as though they were no closer to solving the case. Aside from Cooper, none of the suspects seemed to have a motive, and if what Nick had said _was_ true, then not even Cooper did.

Before she could delve even deeper into her mental quandary, Judy was shaken back to consciousness as the doors to the elevator slid open. The doe blinked as she followed the fox out into the halls of the resort, briefly taking note of the floor they were on. They were so high, it was hard to believe that they hadn't breached the surface of the ocean yet. "Where are we going, anyway?"

The fox beside her was silent for a minute as he drew a shuddering breath. "If the mammal we're about to meet is who I think he is, then we're about to enter the last place on Earth I'd ever want to be."

Judy eyed the door before her warily as her companion raised his paw to it, an ordinarily innocuous, but now ominous, thud sounding as he knocked. "Just who is it we're seeing?"

"Officially, he's one of Zootopia's most prominent artists. Unofficially, he's the latest victim of our thief. Personally, he's-"

"Little Dicky Nicky!" The fox stifled a groan as the door swung open, revealing the rather rotund form of the goat within.

"John G!" Nick mustered a rather forced grin as he turned to face the newcomer. "Long time!" The goat in question had already disappeared back into the apartment. "And yet, still not long enough," the fox grumbled.

Judy couldn't contain her smirk as she followed the fox into the apartment. "Whatever you say… Little Dicky!"

A groan escaped the fox, much to the rabbit's amusement. "Please, Fluff… _Never_ use that name again.

The rabbit merely raised an eyebrow at his request. "You _do_ realize how much of a hypocrite you are for saying that, right?" Her attention wasn't held for long, however, as she took in the room surrounding the pair.

The first word to come to mind upon entering the goat's residence was 'stark'. The walls, the floor, the furniture, even a fair number of the decorations weren't just white, they were a severe, harsh white, illuminated by an unnecessary amount of light. Nick had claimed that the apartment belonged to one of Zootopia's foremost artists, and to Judy's eye, the owner wasn't afraid to proclaim the title. Ceramic sculptures, both in fluidly abstract forms and more concretely representational, cluttered the open spaces, while the walls were packed full with shelves containing all manner of items; smaller clay creations, photographs depicting performance pieces, masks and plaster faces alike leering down upon the interlopers, and books covering all forms of art were just a few of the objects to draw the eye. In fact, surveying the room, there only seemed to be one thing missing… "Where'd he go?" The room held such an air of an almost holy devotion to art that Judy found herself unwilling to speak in anything louder than a whisper.

Nick, for his part, looked just as uncertain as Judy. "I _don't_ know…"

Despite how quiet the pair were, it seemed that their conversation didn't go unnoticed. "As the prodigal son returns to the fold, the welcoming feast must a proclamation of the ages! And it is not! Quite! Ready!" The old goat's voice seemed to resonate from all directions at once; Judy wasn't sure if it was just the acoustics of the room, but the whole affair was beginning to unnerve her. "Go! Prance like saucy antelopes, visit my disciples, and critique their works! You will be informed when the exquisiteness that shall be our sustenance is sufficiently prepared!"

"How's he doing that?" Judy slowly backed out of the room, eyes darting to all corners and yet finding nothing.

"Still don't know," her companion hissed back.

The pair simultaneously heaved a sigh as the door to the apartment-turned-gallery shut behind them. "What the heck was that?" Judy spluttered, waving a paw behind her.

"That, Fluff, was the vivid personificated effervescence that is known as John G. Bovine." Nick's eyes widened in alarm as he began spitting, making a face as though he'd just tasted something revulsive. "Oh gods, less than five minutes in his presence and I'm talking like him again!"

"Deep breaths, Little Dicky, deep breaths." Hearing the name seemed to calm the fox, who fixed the doe with a glare. Judy, for her part, briefly smirked. "What was all that about the 'prodigal son returning'?"

Nick heaved a sigh. "This may come as a shock to you, Carrots, but this charming, suave, and debonair fox before you wasn't _always_ the brilliant detective you know him as today."

"U-huh."

"No, really, contain your surprise!" Seeing his companions unimpressed look, Nick continued. "I think I told you before about how I wasn't the most… book smart kid in school, right?" Judy nodded. "Well, as it would so happen, drama was one of my better classes."

"You don't say."

"I do! And ol' John G. back there? He was my teacher."

"Really?" _That_ piqued Judy's attention. Briefly looking at the sealed door behind her, she turned back to the fox. "And his 'disciples' that he was talking about?"

Nick shrugged. "No idea. He always was an eccentric old goat, likely picked up some like-minded followers over the years." He turned to examine the hallway; to Judy, it appeared no different than any other in the resort, but Nick apparently saw something else. "From what I gleaned from security after you left," he mused, "John G. and his crowd own this entire floor."

Judy whistled in surprise. "They make enough to afford all this? Little Dicky, I think you and I are in the wrong business!"

"What did I say about that name?"

"Consider it payback for all of your nicknames, sweetheart!"

"This? This right here? This is why people think we're dating."

"Come on!" Judy began skipping down the hallway. "Who knows, maybe I'll get to meet your old classmates, find out what you were _really_ like back in school!"

"Ugh, I hope not…"

* * *

Visiting the other resident artists on the floor turned into quite the affair for the pair of detectives. Keeping in mind that they were there for work over pleasure, they decided to divide and conquer; while inside the artist's apartments, one would distract the occupant while the other would scour the place for clues. The first disciple they found was a rather taciturn moose named Robert; while Nick discussed the sculptor's proficiency with plaster and how his pieces captured the 'essence of the self' and invoked 'self introspection', Judy poked around the rooms. Aside from large quantities of the white globs in more places than she thought physically possible, the doe found nothing pertinent to their case.

Across the hall was the residence of Colin Buchannan, a buck who Judy at first willingly distracted while Nick slunk off. A fellow rabbit, Colin was primarily white furred, with umber highlights around his eyes and ears. As opposed to Robert's works, Judy had great appreciation for Colin's paintings; the works were breathtaking in their realness. The doe could almost smell the earthiness of the mud, imagined she could see the wind blowing through the trees, and track the clouds as they moved along the sky in one painting of a dirt-track road through a forest, a church barely visible through the trees across the creek to the left… She very quickly came back to reality, however, upon feeling just how close Colin had crept up behind her. The buck's smile was sincere as he talked about how he wouldn't mind doing some figure drawings of his new muse, but there was something in his eyes that made Judy almost leap to Nick for safety when the fox reappeared.

Fortunately for the doe, the next artist they came upon was much more agreeable. A petite otter named Sonja, the artist practiced performance art, more interested in how to bring her message across to the mammal masses than the mammals themselves. Sadly, her apartment, much like Colin's and Robert's, turned up nothing.

It was in the final 'disciple's' residence that Judy found their first clue. Immediately upon entry, Carley, an arctic vixen, had taken a disinterest bordering on disdain to Judy, and attraction bordering on obsession to Nick. Suffice to say, Judy had no problems separating herself from the pair, instead giving herself a 'self guided tour' or the artists apartment. As opposed to the others, Carley used a variety of mediums; there were paintings in acrylic and oil, drawings done in charcoal, sculptures in metal, wood, and fabric, and clay works scattered about the rooms, some complete, some merely rough sketches or ideas.

Finding nothing out of place in the main room, Judy poked about in the adjoining rooms; a quick tour of a bathroom turned up nothing unexpected, and she had been about to leave the kitchen when something made her stop. Turning, she re-examined the room. Table and chairs off to the side, island in the center with a plethora of drawers, counters ringing the room. Appliances were all along the outer wall; refrigerator, stove with a built-in oven, sink… Judy's eyes tracked back to the fridge. _Nothing there…_ Slowly, her gaze lifted. "A-ha!" There, above the fridge, was an air-vent. Normally inconspicuous, what had drawn her attention now was the fact that the cover was slightly askew. Furtively glancing behind her, Judy sighed in relief; conversation still drifted from the main room, indicating that her companion was still doing a decent job of keeping Carley distracted. Counting her blessings, Judy hopped up onto the counter, and from there scrambled on top of the fridge. "What do we have here?" The bunny mused, examining the vent cover closely.

Oddly enough, all the screws still seemed at first glance to be in place, but the cover came off easily enough at Judy's prying. Flipping the lid around, a surprised whistle escaped the doe detective; the screws had been melted off from the inside, melding them to the cover but separating them from the wall. A hard breeze would have knocked the grate off.

Setting the cover aside, Judy peered into the dark maw of the apartments ventilation system. Dark though it may be, the doe was certain that this was how the thief had travelled throughout his target's domains; if she was to uncover any clues indicating the thief's identity, it would be within. And so, with merely a breath to ready herself, Judy ventured forth.

 _Cold_ was a thought that came to mind while travelling the ductways of the ventilation system; _cramped,_ _claustrophobic,_ and _dusty_ were also thoughts. Fortunately for the doe within, small, enclosed spaces had never been a bother for her; growing up in a warren in Bunnyburrow, much of her rearing had been underground; if anything, the doe was slightly agoraphobic, not that she ever let it interfere with her work. Inch by inch she wormed her way forward, pulling herself along with her elbows. _Never thought I'd be crawling through air ducts when I got up this morning,_ she pondered as she inched onward. Judy counted her lucky stars that her path was quite well illuminated; the duct opened along regular intervals into the room, primarily to provide the abode within ventilation, but also giving the detective within much needed light.

After several minutes of worming her way forward, Judy was almost ready to give up when a little fluttering object ahead of her caught her attention. Squinting, she could barely make it out to be a two-toned tuft of fur; likely, the suspect had snagged it while crawling along these same vents. _Gotcha!_ Judy mentally proclaimed, crawling forward. Wriggling through a still fan, the doe paused as words from within the room caught her attention.

"Your little friend seems to have disappeared."

"Oh, she'll likely turn up sooner or later; she may have gone back to… Colin? Colin's studio, the pair of them seemed to hit it off earlier." Judy shivered at the thought.

The vixen made an inelegant sound. " _That_ little rodent? Although, I can't say I'm surprised; she didn't seem to have much appreciation for _true_ beauty." Her voice dropped in tone, undoubtedly trying to sound seductive, but Judy thought Carley sounded more like she had a sore throat. "Tell me, _Nick_ , what do you _feel_ when you see my piece?"

The room was quiet for a moment before Nick hummed. "Well… it's definitely… _unique_. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it before."

"I wouldn't think you would have," Carley purred, before her voice faded slightly. "Although, it's not as it should be – it's an ethereal, moving piece, meant to represent the wind."

 _Artists,_ Judy thought as she shook her head, continuing to wriggle through the fan blades. _I'll never understand them_. The doe paused for a moment as what the vixen had said ran through her mind again. _Moving piece, represents wind…_ The airflow in the room had been practically non-existent. If Carley was wanting to show Nick the piece in the way it was meant to be, there'd need to be wind, which meant- "Oh sweet cheese and crackers!" With renewed vigor, Judy struggled to pull herself free of the blades. She was almost free when a sharp tug pulled her short. Looking back, the doe groaned; her dress had gotten wedged between the blade and the vent wall. _It's fine, it's fine,_ she thought, desperately working at the fabric. Just then, with a metallic groan, the blade shifted. _It's not fine._ Not even sparing a moment of regret, Judy worked her small claws into the fabric at the level of her knees, raggedly tearing the material. The doe backpedalled not a moment too soon as the fan picked up pace, quickly whirring up to a potentially deadly speed. Judy's gaze briefly tracked the scrap of fabric before it was rendered little more than scraps, quickly cast away by the breeze. _So much for wearing_ this _dress again,_ she mused. Turning back to the clue which had brought her so close to her demise, Judy bit off a curse; in her haste to escape the fan, she'd not noticed that the tuft of fur had blown away in the breeze. "Arrgh!"

Grumbling as she worked her way further into the vent system, Judy was simultaneously relieved and dismayed when she found another tampered cover; true, it meant that she'd found the thief's point of egress, but she'd not been able to find any other indicators as to their identity. Huffing slightly as she worked at the grate, Judy carefully set it down inside the vent, daintily crawling over it so as to not rattle it too much. Reaching the opening, she awkwardly turned herself about, holding on to edge as she lowered the rest of herself down. Unfortunately, she wasn't tall enough to reach the floor, but fortunately, her foot _did_ make contact with something. Settling more of her weight on whatever it was she was standing on, Judy let out a squawk as it shifted, losing her hold on the vent and tumbling to the floor.

"What was that? Hello?"

Judy sat bolt upright as she heard a set of footsteps approaching the room she now found herself in. Leaping to her feet, she hurriedly set the toppled canvases back upright against the wall, counting her lucky stars that none of them had torn from her fall on them. Taking a step back, she quickly struck a pose, pretending that she'd been admiring the artworks the entire time.

"Ah, my muse! You have returned to me!" The voice behind her caused a shiver to run up Judy's spine; she hadn't considered just _whose_ room she'd tumbled into.

"Mr. Buchannan!" Judy turned, eyeing the smock-covered buck in the doorway behind her with her best grin. "I'm sorry to drop in unannounced like this, but I just found myself falling for your paintings; I just needed to get another, closer look." _Not… technically a lie?_

The white rabbit nodded, his gaze sliding briefly to the paintings around Judy. "Well… Thank you. That's pretty much the effect I've tried to have my works show; a sense of realism that captures the viewer, draws them in to the point where what they see before them is their reality, rather than the world around them."

"M-hmm… And these ones?" Tucked to the corner behind the door, Judy noticed a set of paintings that were quite drastically different from the others. Stark black and white, they were still fairly representational, but far less crisp and concise than his others. Even better, they were against the opposite wall from the open vent.

"Some of my first forays into the medium; I tried to paint what I perceived my teacher wanted, rather than what I felt right. I should honestly get rid of them; they're failures in my eyes, but remain a reminder of what to avoid."

"I see…" Judy tried to edge towards the open doorframe, but a bare white arm wrapped around her shoulder, bringing the doe further into the room.

" _This_ one, however, I consider my first masterpiece, inspired by my original muse."

Despite herself, Judy found that the painting did draw her in. It was an urban scene, displaying a row of tall buildings overlooked the ocean. The building in the forefront was obviously a residence, as windows showed a lushly decorated room within, with a balcony overlooking the water, enclosed by granite railings. Copper roofing trailed abutted against stucco walls, a corner of which had partially crumbled, revealing the brickwork underneath. Behind the residence, the buildings shifted to more industrial, terminating at a brick warehouse along the docks in the distance. "It is quite lovely," Judy agreed. "Where is it?"

"The City of Dunwall, along the Wrenhaven River."

Judy frowned, still examining the painting. "I don't think I've ever heard of there."

"Me, neither." At the artist's words, Judy turned to him, surprise evident. "I've tried finding it, but to my knowledge, no such place exists. It came to me, clearly and vividly in a dream one night, though. I just _had_ to capture it." The buck pointed with a paintbrush to the corner with the exposed brickwork. "I was here, crouched, waiting, when my muse revealed himself." The brush shifted to the window. "He came from further within his house, stopping by this window here, but looking out the opposite window. I struck."

"Hmm?"

"Through the window. I still remember how the glass shattered around me as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him back onto the roof. I left him there," again, he pointed to the corner by the brickwork, "as I pulled my knife out of him. It was… exquisite."

The buck had spoken plainly, as though he'd been discussing the weather, or what he'd had for breakfast, that it took Judy a moment to grasp just _what_ he was saying. "I see!" She squeaked, subtly trying to wriggle out from his tight grasp.

Seemingly ignorant of his guest's discomfort, Colin continued his tour with another painting. "Part of the reason I'm convinced that Dunwall is a real place is that I saw it again." What once might have been a restaurant's outdoor patio was displayed in dilapidation on the canvas; furniture covered with cloth, crates placed here and there, the scene had obviously been untouched for quite some time. Oddly, the painting was unfinished – the canvas had been primed, the scene sketched out, but only a few portions of it had any paint on it whatsoever. The buck frowned as he considered the piece. "It was… wrong, though. This place wouldn't have existed in the Rudshore District, and why was I some diseased beast? My muse came, but he was… unformed, forgettable, easily dispatched." Judy shivered as the buck's brown gaze shifted to her. His eyes narrowed and he took a step back, examining Judy more closely. "But your dress! What's happened?"

Startled by the sudden shift of topic, Judy looked down. Lost in worry at being alone with the crazed artist, she'd forgotten all about her ruined outfit. "I… found it too constricting?" She tried, giving a weak smile to the white buck.

"Ah, yes," Colin's smile returned as he gestured down to himself. "I know the feeling." Judy's gaze briefly followed the artist's gesture before snapping back up to his face; aside from his painter's smock, the buck didn't appear to be wearing a stitch of clothing. Colin tilted his head as he examined Judy. "Perhaps I should paint you unconstrained…" Fortunately for Judy, Colin's ears snapped upright, his head turning to some sound that she didn't hear. "Bah!" He grimaced. "I'm afraid our session will have to wait, my muse, for lunch is prepared." Locking gazes with the doe once more, he bowed over her paw, planting a kiss on the back of it. "You go on ahead – I must prepare."

Judy had never left a room so quickly in her life, exploding out into the hallway and slamming the door behind her.

"Oh, joy, she's still alive."

"Gah!" Judy clutched at her chest, starting slightly at the unexpected voice. Turning, she spotted Carley glaring at her, the vixen circling behind a surprised Nick.

"You disappeared so fast, we'd thought you'd fallen off the edge of the earth." Eyeing Judy's torn dress, the vixen sniffed. "Oh, and I found these fluttering around in my kitchen." A pile of torn purple scraps of fabric were tossed Judy's way, separating a fluttering impotently less than halfway to the doe. "It's a pity that that's all that I could get; I'll try and be quicker next time."

Judy locked eyes with Nick as the vixen pushed past her on the way to Bovine's door. "I've changed my mind; I don't want to be an artist anymore."

* * *

 **A/N This chapter is my longest yet, and OMGOODNESS it was almost so much longer! That skimmed over security meeting? 2,000 words, before I realized it didn't really contribute much that couldn't be summed up later. All of the artists were going to have a one-on-one discussion/examination of their apartments, as well as the overall lunch, but I decided to give y'all a rest.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Not sure how I feel about this chapter... Currently in a love/hate relationship with it. Love it at the moment, will undoubtedly hate it once it's been posted. Anyway...**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Combat Engineer: There's a part of me that worry's I add too many references... And the another part that hears this, looks at the story, and laughs... and laughs... and laughs...**

 **Fox in the hen house: Well then, dear reader, you are obviously not a true ARTEEST! (One benefit of having two years of visual arts education: I got to see artists at their best and at their worst. Guess which ones I channeled for that chapter?) And me? A shipper? I am insulted, dear reader, INSULTED I SAY!**

 **ON TO THE STORY!**

* * *

"Should any here today have reason why these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"WAIT!"

Judy, her groom-to-be, and all of their guests gasped as the doors to the chapel were flung wide, booming as they rebounded against the stone walls. Turning to face the interloper, Judy's gaze settled on the form of a fox, illuminated from the light outside. From the way he was gasping, he must have run quite some distance.

Paws on his knees as he gulped in deep breathes of air, Gideon Grey shrunk in on himself upon seeing the combined gazes of several hundred rabbits and the entire ZPD Precinct One turned upon him. "Ah... There's, uh, been an accident on the highway. Cake won't make it to the reception for at least an hour."

Turning to her partner on the dais, Judy grinned at the emerald gaze which met her own. "What do you think, Mr. Wilde, should we wait for the cake?"

Grinning down at his bunny, Nick shook his head. "You're the only sweet thing I need in my life, Mrs. Wilde."

Judy bashfully dropped her gaze at the unexpected flattery, foot worrying at the carpet. A smirk grew on her lips, however, as she looked back up at the fox. "It's got blueberry icing, though."

Eyes growing wide at the realization, Nick turned to the chaplain. "STOP THE WEDDING!"

* * *

 **WRONG STORY! Seriously, I have no idea where these things keep coming from...**

* * *

Over the course of the young doe's life, Judy had had many moments which she'd describe as 'awkward'. Choking on a piece of cake at her twelfth birthday party? Awkward. Messing up in a show in front of the entire school? Definitely awkward. That reoccurring dream where she was at the beach with all the coworkers she'd ever had, naked? Oh, so very awkward.

And yet, somehow, she was certain that the lunch with Bovine's crowd topped the list.

To start off with, her dress had been quite noticeably torn, bordering on destroyed. Next, Bovine was apparently very particular about seating arrangements, with seats and settings arrayed from smallest mammal to largest around the table. It was thanks to this fact that the doe found herself wedged between the companionable-if-reclusive Sonja and Colin, who throughout the meal had difficulty keeping his paws to himself, while only ever addressing her as 'his muse'. Directly across from her was, of course, Carley, who either dispassionately put down her fellow artists, glared at Judy, or leaned in as close to Nick as she could. Fortunately for the doe, Carley and Colin seemed to have an ongoing rivalry, leading the pair to focus a considerable portion of their attentions on one another and their verbal duels, which more often than not led to the pair of them sulking in bitter silence. In the company of his fellow artists, Robert at least made an effort to be sociable, but the only real saving grace for the meal that Judy could find was their host's recounting numerous tales of Nick's theatrical debuts, much to said fox's dismay.

Her relief at the meal's closure was short lived, unfortunately. The meal ran late, meaning that despite the rabbit's sprinting and record-breaking costume change, she was late for the band's dinner rehearsal. Normally, such an act would have been excusable, especially since Judy had never been late before, but apparently, Cam's anger issues had been flaring up again, leading to a great deal of stress amongst the other members of the band. Leo had snapped at Judy for her tardiness, and in turn Mac had snarled at Leo in Judy's defense. Cam had tried to storm out of the room, only to be turned on by Mac. It took the combined efforts of Leo and the normally apathetic Matt to separate the wolves, and by the time everyone had settled down enough to get in any practice, it was time for the band to appear on stage.

And so it was that Judy found herself once again under the spotlights on stage, singing her heart out with a smile plastered on her face, hoping she didn't look nearly as frazzled as she felt. Supressing a sigh as the song ended, Judy briefly stepped out from under the spotlight, ducking into the wings to take a quick sip of water. Out of the blinding glare of the lights, she cast her gaze over the mingling crowd; with only a few seconds between songs, she couldn't make out too much, but most of their suspects were once again there. Nick, Neyla, and Connor were sharing a table, while Carmelita looked a bit forlorn with the absence of the raccoon Judy was certain was Sly. The elderly schnauzer was also missing, his usual spots at Carmelita's table and the bar conspicuously empty, leaving the turtle tending bar appearing rather distracted. She could see neither Preysing, Concol, nor Neer, but didn't have time to actively seek them out; her short break concluded, she forced her mouth into a smile, once more squinting as the glaring lights from above concealed the audience.

The band had made it halfway through their next song before Judy's ears twitched. Singing on stage with a live band playing behind her and the dinnertime chatter of the evening crowd before her, one could excuse the petite rabbit for not hearing the disturbance, but with her lifelong determination to protect and serve the mammal populous around her, Judy had long ago learned to notice what others might miss. Squinting through the lights, at first, she couldn't see anything out of place. As her ears centered on what had first caught her attention, though, she saw something off. Everywhere throughout the room mammals conversed, dined, drank, and had a good time… except for the bar. Everyone there had gone oddly still and quiet, creating the bubble of silence that Judy had noticed. Most were standing still, looking towards the door leading back into the kitchen, some were backing away, except for the bartender, who was wheeling his chair closer.

And then the door exploded.

A several ton hippo barreled through the thin wooden partition, rendering the once sturdy material little more than kindling. Patrons and staff alike cried out in surprise and pain as they were pelted with the splintery shrapnel. From her position on stage, Judy couldn't hear what the bartender said as he tried to talk the hippo down, but she could easily hear the hippo's response of 'No! I've had enough!' as he backhanded the turtle from his chair. Turning his gaze over the startled masses before him, the tubby pink hippo's glare intensified as it focussed on the shocked vixen just getting up from her seat. "You!" He bellowed, smashing his foot against the floor.

Cries of shock rang out from across the ballroom as most of the patrons found themselves thrown up in the air, flailing as they remained suspended mid-air amidst the similarly affected furniture. The hippo ignored them as he charged the stunned Inspector, his path now considerably cleared. The fox in question had managed to shake off her confusion, narrowly leaping out of the way of the rampaging hippo.

For all of his bulk, the server had surprisingly quick reflexes, managing to curtail his charge before he hit the opposite wall. Quicker than anyone would have suspected, he turned around to once more face off against the vixen. Pawing at the ground, he was about to attack again when his attention was sidetracked by a whip cracking across the side of his face. Switching his fierce gaze to the weapon-wielding constable, the hippo snorted before charging.

"Oh, bollocks," Neyla uttered as the pink freight-train of a hippo bore down on her. While nowhere near as agile as the Inspector, Neyla's reflexes were still quick, a trait passed down to her by her feline heritage, allowing her to mostly avoid the enraged staff's swinging fist. _Mostly_ being the optimal word, as the hippo's fist managed to clip the constables shoulder, sending the feline yowling across the ballroom.

The server roared as a ball of flame washed over him, turning his fury on the ocelot with the fire-shrouded fist. "That's no way to treat a lady," Connor chided as his hand flared, the noble balancing on the balls of his feet as he prepared to toss another fiery blast at his opponent. His smirk grew as the enraged hippo roared, approaching. With an uncanny grace, the feline weaved about the hippo's swinging fists, occasionally leaping back to throw another ball of flame at him. "Come on, old sport, is that the best you've got?"

Apparently not, as the hulking pink combatant stomped the ground again. Unlike his first undoubtedly plasmid charged stomp, this one showcased the hippo's sheer strength, knocking the startled noble into the air as well as sending out shockwaves through the floor, rattling cutlery and glasses off of nearby tables and even rippling far enough to set the piano keys jangling. With his opponent caught unprepared for such an assault, the hippo had no difficulty snagging him out of the air and hurling the ocelot at Neyla, the constable herself barely recovered from her initial assault.

A savage snarl from behind snapped Judy out of the trance she'd found herself in, watching the fight before her. A projectile of grey fur flew past her, the vested wolf latching onto the back of the hippo.

"Damn it, Cam!" With a frustrated growl, Leo leapt off the stage, closely followed by Mac as they went to their bandmate's aid. Cam, for his part, remained latched on to the back of the hippo's neck as the larger mammal roared in pain and anger, straining but unable to reach the canine on his back.

 _Where's security?_ Squinting against the lights, Judy could barely make out the forms at the far side of the room, but from what she could see, Nick, Carmelita, and 'Barrelsmith', who'd arrived from who-knows-where, were doing their best to evacuate the dining room, the males ushering the droves of panicked mammals from the room while the Inspector attempted to pull those affected by the hippo's stomp from the air. Judging by the mass of mammal flesh at the doors, Judy doubted that Carmelita's security forces would be coming through there any time soon, and the smoke billowing from the kitchen likewise ruled out that route.

With a startled 'Eep!' Judy ducked, narrowly avoiding the impromptu black-furred projectile which was the band's percussionist. The wolf rolled to a stop in a crumpled heap, groaning as he struggled to get to his feet. In an instant, Judy was by his side, the wolf resting an uncomfortable amount of weight on her shoulder. "What can I do to help?"

"I don't think you _can_."

Judy glared at the wolf as he staggered forward. "I'm not just some dumb bunny, Mac; I can handle myself."

The dark wolf shook his head, briefly grimacing at the action as he held a paw to his temple. "I know that; I remember the fight with Alex. But _this_ ," his paw swept over the foray, "Isn't the same. Matt! Drop the bass already and help!"

Looking back to the room, Judy couldn't help but see the reasoning behind the wolf's words. It didn't mean she liked it, but it was there; the hippo was still facing off against Leo and Cam, as well as Connor and Neyla now that the pair had disentangled themselves. Despite the sheer numbers against him, though, the hippo wasn't only holding his own, but seemed to be gaining the upper hand as he finally managed to grab hold of the other wolf, tossing him away with contemptuous ease.

Turning back to Mac, Judy hissed, shielding her eyes at finding not the wolf but instead the blinding light of the spotlights once more. _I can barely see a thing with these things!_

Judy blinked.

She looked up.

She looked in front of her.

She looked to both sides, and not finding what she was looking for, frowned, and then looked slightly further back. What she found was…

 _Stupid_. The bunny chided herself as she bounded off the stage.

 _This is so stupid,_ she thought as she darted to one of the now vacant tables, swiping up a knife as she passed by.

 _This is never going to work,_ she was certain that her plan would end in failure as she clambered back on stage, dashing into the wings.

 _This isn't some story, Judy, this will probably end with either your death or humiliation,_ she pondered as she sawed at a rope. However, she ignored the nagging doubts of her mind as the fibres of the rope gave way beneath the serrated blade, the doe hanging on above the cut as the rope unravelled. With a loud snap, the rest of the rope gave way, separating from the cleat in the wall.

With startling speed, the curtain fell, blocking the stage from view for the rest of the room. With an equal speed, the rope snapped up towards the ceiling, the miniscule weight of a bunny doing nothing to halt its progress. Judy's arm felt like it was going to be torn from its socket, but the doe held on tight, eyes watering as she swung her weight.

 _Three… two… one…_ The doe released the rope moments before it tore through the pulley at its peak. A sensation similar to that she'd had on the _Jackalope_ came over her – she felt weightless, the world slowing down around her as she floated through the air.

And then she slammed into the gantry.

As the air was knocked out of her, Judy scrambled with her paws to take purchase as she felt herself begin to slide down. The knife she hadn't realized was still clasped in her paw hooked through the metal slats, giving the doe the hold she needed to pull herself up fully. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Judy edged along the beam, careful not to look down. Inch by inch she crept her way along, taking deliberate care with each step she placed. After what felt like hours, but was surely only seconds, she reached her target. Drawing a gasping breath as she leaned against the spotlight, Judy finally allowed herself to look down.

The situation below had not improved. While Matt and Leo had the size and bulk to equal that of the enraged staff member's, they obviously lacked the endurance and plasmids that the hippo possessed. Judy winced as Leo took a powerful punch to the gut, the feline folding like a house of cards. Matt roared in defiance, but even the bear's mass did little more than act as a temporary distraction to the hippo. The ungulate continuously refocussed his ire on the Inspector, who had since joined the fight. Nick, Mac, Cam, and 'Barrelsmith' were all out of the bunny's view for the moment, but when a familiar raccoon came bursting from the kitchen, dragging a semi-conscious elk chef with him, she had a good idea where the others had disappeared off to.

"Hey, Tubby!" Her first attempt of a shout had come out a wheezing rasp courtesy of the bar that had slammed into her abdomen, but her second came out clearer. Even with her singer's lungs, Judy wasn't sure if the hippo would hear her, but fortunately it seemed as though his weight was a touchy subject as the hippo roared his objection.

"I'm not fat, I'm big boned!" The enraged waiter turned his head left and right, ignoring the snarling bear he held in a head lock as he peered around the room, trying to find his taunter.

"Have you ever seen a fat skeleton?" Judy countered, glad for all her time spent with Nick and his quick, cynical wit. "Up here!"

The hippo peered up into the darkened rafters as Judy swung the stage light down on him. Bellowing his disapproval, the hippo staggered back, trying to get out from under the glare of the light, but Judy kept the bright light trained on him.

"Get him!" Judy roared down to her compatriots, "While he's distracted!"

Indeed, for the first time since the brawl began, the hippo was off his stride. With only himself and everything in a three-foot radius around him brightly illuminated, the enraged combatant was effectively blind to everything and everyone else in the room. Carmelita, Neyla, and Connor barraged the beast with their attacks from range, keeping him disoriented, with Matt occasionally stepping in to deliver a powerful blow of his own. Under any other circumstances, Judy would have felt some pity for the pink mammal, but as it was she was wanting to get the fight over and done with, with as few injuries to her friends as possible.

A pain-filled yip drew Judy's attention from the fight directly beneath her. Out from behind the bar, blocked from her view before, rolled two mammals. At first, Judy couldn't make out anything of the growling ball of fur as the pair rolled across the floor, but as one managed to disentangle themselves, the doe frowned. "Nick? Cam?"

The fox in question was backing away from the wolf, paws raised and saying… Something, Judy couldn't make it out over the din of the other fight going on below. The pianist seemed disinterested in whatever her fellow detective was saying as he stalked forward on all fours, teeth bared and dripping blood and spittle. With a quickness Judy hadn't thought he had, the wolf sprung forward, teeth snapping at the air where just moments before the fox's neck had been.

Judy hesitated. She hated herself for it, but she did. Her conscience was pulling her in two places at once; one part of her told her that she needed to stay exactly where she was, that without the blinding effects of the stage-light, the hippo below would continue his rampage, with nary a care for anyone or anything between him and his target. The second part of her screamed at her to get down to the ground and help Nick in any way that she could. Cameron was her friend, yes, but whatever… _that_ was down there wasn't Cam, and it was about to kill Nick if it could.

And so, while her mind hesitated, frozen as her ancestor's 'fight or flight' instincts overwhelmed her, Judy's body acted of its own accord. One moment, the doe was safe from any of the fighting, perched precariously high above the floor, and the next _Holy shitake mushrooms the ground's getting awfully close!_

Fortunately for Judy, she had something soft to cushion her fall.

Unfortunately for Cam, said cushioning device turned out to be him. With a whine, the feral pianist crumpled under the doe's momentary weight, the bunny using her momentary crash-pad as a spring-board, rolling off the rest of her fall's momentum. A snarl escaped him as the wolf staggered back to his feet, turning to face his new opponent.

"I'm sorry, Cam," Judy muttered under her breath, pulling herself to her feet. A sharp, jolting pain had her latch onto a nearby chair, the doe momentarily distracted from the wolf before her. On top of everything else that had already happened to her today, it would appear as though she'd done… _something_ to her ankle because of the fall. Looking back up, she hobbled back a step; the wolf had recovered, and was stalking ever closer to his wounded prey. "Cam!" Judy cried out, "This isn't you! You're better than this, _stronger_ than this!" The doe grabbed onto the edge of a table as she desperately hopped back another step, her words apparently no fazing the focussed predator. "Cam, don't do this! Fight it!"

The feral pianist was prepared to lunge forward at his prey, her scent of fear sharp in the air to his evolved sense of smell, when a sharp whistle nearby drew his attention. Turning his attention to the new threat behind him, the wolf hunkered down, snarling as his cold blue gaze caught sight of the smaller canine from earlier.

"Down, boy."

Judy winced at the sound of her former friend's whining cry, the wolf desperately shaking his head as the fur across his face burned under the fox's assault. One, two, three, balls of flame hurtled through the air between the two, only coming to a halt when the wolf fell to the ground, pawing desperately at his muzzle, singed fur and clothes smoldering across his body.

"Stay," Nick snarled as the chair in his paws smashed against the back of the wolf's skull, knocking the larger predator into the realm of unconsciousness. The fire both in the fox's emerald eyes and across the pianists' head faded, the vulpine turning to the downed lapin, his expression instantaneously shifting from a terrifyingly enraged countenance to one of utmost concern. "Did he hurt you?"

Judy shook her head, unable to tear her gaze from the mammal who, not even minutes before, she had considered one of her closest friend's in Zootopia. "That… Tha…" She held a paw to her mouth, desperately attempting to hold back her body's attempt to cleanse her stomach. Just then had her mind caught up to what her body had been doing; so many death defying feats in so short a time… She felt her world begin to collapse in on itself, only to be held together by a pair of russet-furred arms as the surrounded her.

"Shhh…" Her fox comforted her, his embrace drawing her closer to his warm core, bundling up the shaking doe and carrying her behind the bar, out of the way of the fight and away from the sight of the wolf's body. It was what Judy needed above all else at the moment; while others may seek solitude, or the comfort brought about by the numbing effects of drink, Judy was a bunny, and instinctively sought out physical comfort from those she cared for, and who cared for her. She had no clue as to how much time passed before she reclaimed her senses, but she knew that Nick was there the entire time for just her.

Looking out from behind their shelter, a small part of Judy's mind figured that she'd been lost to the physical world for less than a minute; the fight between the band, the constables, the nobles, and the hippo still raged on, but between the overwhelming numbers and how off-foot her stunt with the stage-lights had put him, the hippo was suffering. True, he was still putting up a considerable fight, but the sheer amount of time and effort which he had been putting into the fight was beginning to show. His punches were slower, he'd taken to not using his plasmid-enhanced abilities, and the ungulate's perceptive abilities were faltering, as he failed to notice the large shadow falling over him.

Mac, the only wolf still standing, had reappeared at some point during the fight, and was visibly straining. Paws poised above his head, the percussionist slowly moved his grasp forward, eyes dilated and tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted from the effort he was putting into his contribution to the fight. Not bothering with any flashy moves or witty one liners, the black-furred canid simply released his hold, shoulders slumping and tension draining from his body as the telekinetically-held piano dropped on top of the waiter, pinning the hippo beneath its considerable weight.

Slumping against the edge of the stage, Mac slowly slid into a crumpled heap, not taking his gaze off the pinned and surprisingly only unconscious hippo before him. "Imma… Imma just sit here for now." Slumping over to his side, the wolf panted, tongue lolling out as he gulped in as much air as his lungs could grasp. "If someone could fetch a hospital, that'd be grand."

* * *

Zootopia was a large city; travel time from one district to another varied, depending on means of transport, from hours by foot, to half an hour by transit, or mere minutes by bathysphere, back when they were an available choice.

Needless to say, going from one district to another could take a while, and 'a while' was not always an option when citizens needed urgent medical attention.

Foreseeing such needs, 'Apollo's Care Medical Corporation' was founded. From personal first aid kits to nurses' stations to full blown hospitals, Apollo's Care provided for most of Zootopia's medical needs, with a bare minimum of one center per district. While the heads of the Apollo Corporation _may_ have stated that their facilities provided the best available care for their patients for the right price, no matter their social standing, without a doubt the hospital in Hermes' Heights was their largest, with the best doctors, nurses, and equipment that money could by.

And so, when a large contingent of wounded mammals arrived from the Morpheus with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to concussions and broken limbs, the staff at the Apollo's Care building were capable of taking in the influx of patients. They were not expecting it by any means, nor were they used to it, but they were prepared for them, even _if_ two of them were under security supervision the entire time.

Fortunately for Judy, the doe's injuries consisted of some bruising around the abdomen and a sprained ankle; bed rest was advised, but after Judy's staunch refusal, walking with either a crutch or a cane for at least a week was advised.

Nick, on the other hand…

"The museum called. Apparently, their mummy exhibit's gone missing."

"Har, har, Fluff, you're a real comedian." The fox tried for what Judy thought was supposed to be a dignified pose, but the number of bandages and wincing it entailed made it look anything but. After several seconds of struggle, Nick gave up with a huff. "Besides, you're one to talk; you sure you're fit to walk with that? It's not too late to ask for a wheelchair."

"I'm fine, Nick."

"Or maybe a stretcher? We might need to carry you back to your room."

"Nick…"

"Heck, we shouldn't take any chances, quick! Maybe they have a free room for you!"

"Nicky."

"High profile event like this, savior of the day, might even swing an entire wing! Dedicated staff! Around the clock on call room service!"

"Little Dicky!" _That_ finally got the fox to shut his trap, but the toothy grin remained. Shaking her head at her friend's antics, Judy cast an eye over the fox as the pair made their way through the hospital's halls. All things considered, they had come out from the ballroom brawl fairly well. Not as well as some of the combatants, to be sure, but they could have fared a lot worse; of the lot, only the Inspector, 'Sylvester' and Lord Arnway had come out better than they had – the vixen had been untouched, while the raccoon had only suffered from some slight smoke inhalation. Mac had suffered a concussion as well as a dislocated shoulder, while Matt would have to wear a neck brace for at least two months, on top of his other injuries. Leo had suffered from several fractured ribs from the hippo's assault and would be out of commission for several weeks, as opposed to Neyla, who was to remain at the hospital for at least a month. Of Cam and the hippo, Judy had received no word. On the other paw, Connor seemed in good spirits, if the way the ocelot was chatting with the nurse wheeling his chair down the hall ahead of the detectives was anything to go by.

"All I'm asking is that you think on it," the noble craned his neck back to look at the young deer, whose smile was a touch exasperated.

"If it'll make you happy, sir, _fine,_ I'll _think_ about it, but I make no promises."

"I can take over from here, if you'd like." The deer's smile turned to one of genuine gratitude as Nick took over her position behind the chair. "This old lump hasn't been giving you any trouble now, has he?"

"Why do you always assume I'm up to no good, Wilde? I was merely asking this fine young nurse if she'd consider working for one of the free health clinics I intend to set up."

The look the nurse gave the detectives would have rendered her own words unnecessary. "It's all he's been able to talk about for the last ten minutes."

Nick laughed, nodding as he wheeled the ocelot along, the nurse gratefully departing. "You never did learn to take 'no' for an answer, did you, Arny?"

"I prefer to think myself as being 'persistently persuasive.' Over here, over here," the noble absently waved the fox off as the trio entered the hospital lobby, standing from the chair and grimacing as he stretched his back. "If nothing else, driving her off let me out of that dreadful contraption. Honestly, why would I even need to be in it in the first place?"

"Because they know if they don't keep an eye on you at all times, half of the equipment will go missing?"

Connor shook his head, giving a long-suffering look to Judy. "Honestly, I have no idea where he gets these thoughts. Bravo to you, my dear, for putting up with him as long as you have."

"Eh," Judy wiggled a paw midair, "I've learned to tune him out most of the time."

The feline chuckled, shaking his head. "A trick that I wish I'd thought of long ago. But for now, I shall work on escaping this institution." Giving a nod farewell to the pair, Connor turned to the reception desk, nodding to Carmelita and Sylvester as he passed.

Tucking his paws in his pockets, Nick's mouth quirked as he examined the mammals about the room. "Well, today's certainly been entertaining, if nothing else, wouldn't you say, Fluff?"

Judy sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not sure if I'd say 'entertaining' or 'insane' – although 'insane' is definitely what I'd call your old teacher and his… _disciples._ " The doe turned a concerned eye on her companion. "Tell me you were never like them."

Scoffing, Nick shook his head. "Yeah, no, what you see's what you get, and I got away from their likes as soon as I could." A moment of silence hung around the pair as Nick surreptitiously cast a look about. "Speaking of that lot, did you find anything helpful? All I learned was that it was mostly smaller goods that were taken; jewelry, money, the likes of that, nothing big or noticeable."

Having her thoughts turned from the turmoil of the day back to the case helped pick the rabbit's spirits up. "Right! And that makes sense!" Seeing the look her companion gave her, she expanded. "He's been using the vent systems! I found a two-toned tuft of fur between Carley and Colin's apartments."

Nick had a skeptical expression on his face. "'He's'? And what's to say that the fur hasn't been there since those systems were put in?"

Judy shook her head fervently. "Because it blew away when your 'girlfriend' turned on the air conditioning. And… well, I guess it _might_ be a she, but I _still_ think it's Sly."

"The thefts still don't suit his M.O., though," Nick tsked.

"But he's a thief! He's the only one with any motive!"

"Hate to disagree with you, Carrots, but there's where you're wrong." Nick's usual smirk reappeared at the look of confusion on Judy's face. "Before the dinner went FUBAR, I was having a lovely chat with our dear Constable Neyla, and as it would so turn out, _both_ she _and_ my cousin are looking to get some money, and quick."

"What!?" The mere notion that not one, but _both_ of the security officers amongst their list of suspects now had motive for the thefts rocked Judy's world to the core. "How? Why?"

"Well…" Nick paused, turning his focus to adjusting his plethora of bandages. At first, Judy couldn't figure why his smirk was growing, but as his gaze momentarily darted downwards, she huffed, pointedly stopping her thumping foot. Seeing the doe threateningly clench her paw into a fist, Nick broke his silence. "You've heard of the riots down in the Warrens, right? Well, wouldn't you know, the unrest is spreading. Apparently, what happened today isn't an isolated case; fights have been breaking out all over the city, and Carmelita's forces aren't able to contain them as quickly as she'd like anymore. Didn't you wonder what took them so long to bring in the hippo?" Judy had assumed that it was the droves of panicked mammals leaving the restaurant, but Nick's explanation made more sense. "So, my dear cousin's looking for more money to hire on more guards, and Neyla, the enterprising cat that she is, has been wanting to get out from under Carmelita's thumb for _quite_ some while– a trait that I had no paw in whatsoever, I feel the need to add. Wants to start her own police force, from what she told me. Although," Nick glanced back down the corridor from which they had come, "Those plans _may_ have to be put on hold for a bit."

"Ugh!" Judy's head fell into her paws and began shaking from side to side. "What's happening to this city? Thefts, I would expect. Missing mammals would have been normal – worrisome, but normal. But riots? Random acts of savagery? I mean, I _guess_ I can understand it with Cam, but…" Judy trailed off as she thought of the wolf. What had happened to him? Was he okay, physically if not mentally? He'd told her about his bursts of rage lately, but how long had they been going on for? Had he had episodes like this on the surface? Doubtful, but what had caused them, then? Both for him and the others around the city?

Lost in her thoughts, Judy hadn't noticed the change to come over Nick until he broke her from her reverie. "What?" The vulpine hissed. "Why? Because he's a _wolf_?"

"Well, you couldn't imagine a _bunny_ going savage, could you?" Even before the words were fully out of her mouth, Judy knew that she'd said the exact wrong thing, and the look on Nick's face only cemented this fact as his expression turned from confusion to hurt betrayal.

"But because he's a predator, he could. And that's why our thief _has_ to be Barrelsmith, right? Because he's a raccoon, and _everyone_ knows that all raccoons are thieves." The fox's glare intensified as he took a step towards the rabbit, and then another. "What about me, huh? I'm just a shifty, lowlife fox? _Of course_ I wouldn't know what I'm talking about, _you're_ the star of the show! Are you afraid I'll go savage? That I'll… _hurt_ you?"

As Nick pressed closer, Judy took a step back, forgetting about her injured foot. The pain made her gasp out as her leg crumpled underneath her, and she tried to catch herself with her paws, back peddling to relieve the pain. The look on Nick's face made her realize what it must have looked like, but the fox turned away, storming towards the entrance before she could say another word.

"I thought you were different, but you're just like everyone else I thought we left on the surface."

Silence clung to the hospital lobby even after the fox had left. All the normal chatter had cut off as the fight between the two escalated, even the pages over the intercoms having caught a lull. As all of the mammals stared at the downed doe, only one thought ran through Judy's head.

 _What have I done?_

* * *

 **Word of warning; I may disappear of the face of the earth in a short while.  
**

 **My explanation: You guys know how my writing occasionally affects reality around me? Well, I _may_ have been at a local jazz club recently that _may_ have been the inspiration behind the one Judy was at in Chapter 1. As it would so happen, the only tables available were the ones where I'd pictured Judy and Katherine sitting, and the one where the ermine was. Well, I obviously chose the one Judy had been at. While there, a stranger sat at the ermine's table, and we got to talking, and somehow (I honestly swear, I had no hand in the topic shifts) the conversation shifted to pointedly Rapturian-style questions (thoughts on Capitalism vs Communism vs Altruism, possibility of scientific advancement if unfettered, etc etc.). So, if I go silent for a _long_ time, I've probably been inducted into the Rapture Cult.**

 **Seriously, only reason why I'd stop posting this story.**

 **I've got so much of it mentally mapped out, nothing's gonna stop me.**

 **Anyway, until next time!**

 **~R.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N What do you mean the chapter's a month late? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to smuggle a chapter out of Rapture with nothing but a bottle? I got it out on time, it's not my fault it arrived a month late!**

 **...what do you mean, if I sent it on time, how do I know it's late?**

 **Uhh...**

 **ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

When Judy was a little kit, her parents had had a set of crystal glasses. They had been gifted to her parents on their wedding day, and were only brought out on special occasions. One such occasion was the announced engagement of on of Judy's sisters – which one, Judy couldn't recall. What she _could_ recall was the moment when one of them had shattered.

As was per usual amongst Bunnyburrow citizens, groups of children were chosen to clean dinner dishes each night. That night, Judy had been amongst said chosen group. Judy had always had a certain interest in said crystal glasses; the care, the intricacy with which they were crafted, the way they reflected and refracted light through their many angles, casting rainbows across whichever surface they landed upon.

Unfortunately for Judy, the night which she was tasked to clean said glasses was also the night she broke one of them.

It was an accident, to be certain, one for which she was forgiven, but nevertheless the moment was seared into the young does mind. Drying one of the glasses, Judy had been momentarily distracted by some sight outside of the window to the kitchen – again, she couldn't recall what it had been, only enough to know that it had caused her grip on the crystal glass to loosen slightly. Slipping from her grip, the glass had turned in the air, seemingly caught by time itself, turning and tumbling, giving the sole viewer one last glimpse of it in its whole condition before colliding with the ground, whereupon it shattered into dozens of pieces.

Upset as they were upon the discovery that one of their prized glasses had been destroyed, Judy's parents were understandably upset, but also understanding, knowing the fact that it had been an accident, not an act of malicious intent.

Judy, the young naïve doe that she had been at the time, hadn't understood why the glass couldn't be repaired, but try as she had, no matter how the pieces were re-arranged, fitted back as they should be, the glass wouldn't return to it's original form.

Now, in the submarine environment of Zootopia, Judy was reminded of her earlier futile attempts to repair that which was irreplaceably lost, by her relations with Nick.

Shattered beyond belief was the friendship she'd once held with said fox, so the doe believed. She'd tried to reconcile with Nick, tell the tod what she'd actually meant as opposed to what he'd received it as, but the fox had twisted her words in ways that she'd never intended, turning her to an irredeemable villain. For her part, Judy had collapsed in the hospital lobby as the world itself collapsed upon her – her partner, the one mammal in Zootopia she _knew_ she could trust, had in turn found his trust in her betrayed. Her friends, her band-mates had been torn asunder – Cam was institutionalized for who knew how long, Mac had difficulty recalling who she was, Leo was constrained to the hospital for an absurdly long amount of time, whereas Matt was who-knew-where in Zootopia until the band could be once again reformed.

Cast adrift, Judy had no-one to turn to but herself… A fact that was reminded to her with a moment of lucid clarity as though she had been struck by a lighting bolt when she'd heard an innocuous advertisement piped over the P.A. system.

"Ladies, you love your man, but can you trust him? When he's away, do you ever wonder what he's up to? He promised to come home early, but is he at the bar with the boys, or is he with someone new? With Scout, by Aperture Science, you'll always be in the know!"

She had no-one to trust but herself… So why not double her potential through plasmids?

* * *

Judy glanced nervously down at the mouse perched on her arm. A small patch of her own grey fur had already been shaved off in the nook of her elbow, and the nurse was in the process of cleaning the bare patch of skin with an alcoholic wipe.

"Everything's going to be just fine, Miss Hopps," Judy's attention was wrenched to the elk garbed in medical gown and mask as he spoke in a calming tone, observing the nurse as she did her work. "If it makes you feel any better, I've administered this particular plasmid to dozens of patients in the past few months, and all of them have come through just fine, with no complaints aside from one case of superficial bruising." That _should_ have made Judy feel better – while others may have been thrown off by the doctor's admission of fault, it reassured the doe to the elk's honesty and sincerity. However, the way her monitored heart rate was beating away told a different story. "It's not too late to back out; there's no shame in staying the way nature made you."

But to Judy, there _was_ shame in backing out. She'd read the information packet about the plasmid 'Scout', and undoubtedly it would prove invaluable to her in her career, especially now that she was without a partner. Just thinking of how she and Nick had left off sobered the doe up, the mechanical beeping settling back down as she focussed on something other than the impending operation. "No, thank you; I'm good to go on." As the nurse on her arm nodded to the doctor and scurried across the straps binding her to the chair, Judy couldn't help but speak up again. "Are the restraints really necessary, though?"

The doctor had moved from the young doe's line of sight, but could still be heard. "Standard policy. One that we've found to be… prudent." The elk stepped back into view, holding a small plastic mask sized for mammals Judy's size. "The body occasionally reacts harshly as… Well, as would be expected, seeing as it's having its genetic code re-written. There were a few unfortunate incidents after plasmids were released-" Eyes widening as he registered the increase in heartrate, the doctor quickly clarified. "Nothing to do with the plasmids themselves went wrong, merely environmental hazards – construction work, one mammal accidentally set half a restaurant on fire when they took 'Incinerate' and the backlash hit the bar, and not to mention the poor buck who thought taking 'Electro-bolt' while standing on a balcony was a good idea!" Blinking as he came back to the present, the elk saw that his assurances had done nothing to calm the rabbit down. A look of self-disappointment could be seen, even behind his mask. "…and this is why I'm a doctor, not a salesman. Are you still certain you want to go through with the procedure?"

Not even the doctors less-than-helpful ramblings could dissuade Judy from her course, though. Taking one last deep breath in an effort to calm herself, the doe nodded. "Yes," she reiterated aloud, though it was more for herself than the medical staff.

"Excellent! Now, if you'll just tilt your head forward slightly…" The doctor affixed the clear mask over Judy's muzzle and reached behind the chair to where a tube from said mask led. "If you'll just count backwards from one hundred for me, Miss Hopps?"

Judy nodded as she heard a slight hissing fill the room. "One hundred, ninety nine, ninety eight-" The last conscious thought the doe had was about the taste of the air in the mask. _Lemony._

* * *

There are lots of things which could be described as an 'out-of-body' experience. There had been times when Judy had been walking along down a street and suddenly felt like she was something _else_ inside her own head, watching through what should have been her eyes as her body walked along without her directions. Other times, a sense of déjà vu washed over her, and Judy could swear that she was watching what had already happened directly in front of her, and more eerily _herself_ , from a few steps to the side. The most common sense of being out of her body was also the most mundane – thinking back to the dreams she could remember, Judy couldn't ever recall having one that wasn't third person, like she was watching actors in a movie, and the was the camera following them about.

Despite all of the similar experiences she'd had, Judy had never had one that left her feeling like she was being catapulted out of her own body.

At least, not until the plasmid hit her blood stream.

Judy had no idea how long she'd actually been unconscious from the anesthetic, but when she'd regained awareness of her surroundings the effect was immediate. She lurched forward in the chair, and while the restraints kept her body secured, somehow Judy _herself_ kept going. Stumbling forward on feet that weren't there and didn't even _feel_ like they were there, Judy momentarily panicked at the sudden violence of the sudden ejection of her consciousness from her own body. _Am I dead?_ Judy slapped herself at the thought… Or at least, tried to. She didn't have hands or a face that she could tell, but that fact didn't diminish her disappointment in herself. _I just got spliced with 'Scout' – this must be one of the reactions Doctor Stein was talking about._ Indeed, as she turned to observe the room, she saw her own body still secured in the chair, and despite how lifeless it looked, the heartrate monitor was still beeping steadily. That, and the fact that the doctor wasn't frantically trying to resuscitate her, assured the doe that she had not, in fact, died to the procedure.

"Miss Hopps?" The elk looked about the room, apparently incapable of seeing the incorporeal doe, or hearing her, though both were to be expected, as Judy could neither see nor hear herself either. Despite receiving no response from the doe, the elk continued. "What you're experiencing right now is quite the normal response after being injected by this particular plasmid – in essence, your body's genetic code is evolving at an incredibly accelerated rate. As such, the plasmid's ability is going a bit 'haywire' for a lack of a better term – until your body has had a chance to fully adapt to it's new change, you won't have control over the plasmid's abilities; hence why you're currently unable to 'return' to your body." Noting the spike in heart rate, the doctor made soothing patting motions towards the window to Judy's left. "No need to fear, the average length of the process is between five to eight minutes; there was one time when we _thought_ it went considerably longer, but it turns out the fellow had just fallen asleep." The doctor shook his head, chuckling. "Bears in winter, what can I say? They'll sleep through anything." Sighing with a smile, the doctor continued monologuing at the window, which for convenience sake Judy had repositioned herself in front of. "As for the plasmid's abilities, you aren't able to physically interact with most objects, as you don't have a physical form to interact _with_. _However_ , you do still _technically_ have a form. The easiest, if also slightly flawed, way to describe it is that your nervous system is now _outside_ of your body, as opposed to _inside_ , as it normally is. Since your nervous system uses small amounts of electricity to pass information along your body, you are able to… _channel_ your electricity and interact with other electrical devices, such as light switches, radios, door panels, and so forth."

Although she'd already read this information before, Judy was grateful to have the doctor reiterate it for her, as reading about an abstract concept was much different from experiencing it first-paw. Hesitantly, Judy 'stepped' over to a cart with an array of medical equipment on it. It still 'felt' like she had a body to move, just one that she couldn't 'feel'. She tried willing herself to move, but nothing happened unless she tried to walk as she would normally. Also, just as the doctor had said, despite her best efforts, she couldn't even make one of the medical gloves move from its resting place on the cart. _This is so weird…_ Leaving the medical cart, Judy made her way past the doctor to the light switch on the wall.

"Yes, I can imagine it's quite fun," the elk chuckled as the lights in the room flickered on and off repeatedly.

A strange feeling overcame the doe, drawing her attention from her admittedly juvenile activity. A feeling of gravity overtook her, but instead of pulling her down, it instead tugged her backwards. Before she had a chance to contemplate this new phenomenon, the world around her blurred, and she lurched forward with a gasp, straining against the chairs restraints.

"Welcome back, Miss Hopps," the doctor smiled down at the shuddering doe as he worked on loosening the cuffs. "Any questions?"

* * *

Judy was giddy as she danced across the checkerboard-patterned tiles of the medical center… Ecstatic, even! She wasn't sure if it was the lingering effects of the new plasmid coursing through her veins, or the newfound sense of inner strength and independence that came along with it, but the doe felt incredible, invigorated, invincible! The fact that she needed a cane barely registered as she practically floated through the lobby, nodding to mammals as she passed, and she was able to shrug off the irritation of hearing said mammals laughing comments about the 'cute little bunny…' Mostly. Her feet did feel the gravity of the earth as she passed through the lobby doors into Zootopia proper, and her beaming grin faded to something much more subdued. It was still there, but a mammal would have needed to be paying close attention to the doe to notice it.

Her grin continued to fade as she made her way along the streets of the subaquatic city. With her 'official' commitments at the Morpheus put on hold after last nights events, the young doe had thought it pertinent to search for her missing jewelry at the pawn shops she knew of before visiting the Plasmid center. True, she may not know as much about the city's unfortunately seedy underbelly as a certain fox, the thought of whom made her remaining smile fade into a slight grimace, but she'd seen a few such shops both in her wanderings and during her time in the Warrens. None of her efforts turned up any results, aside from a few comments about a shady looking fox who'd been by searching for the same pieces.

Passing by one of the bathysphere stations, Judy's grimace grew more pronounced. All bathysphere travel was still 'Closed until further notice', a fact that had more than a few residents upset, as could regularly be seen by protestors outside said stations throughout the city. As with so many other of her fellow residents, Judy found herself slowly turning a blind eye to the disgruntled mob; it wasn't that she didn't share their plight, but shaking signs and angrily yelling at the air wasn't going to change anything – that, and unlike the elephant who was currently trumpeting his opinions, she didn't believe the dream of Zootopia to be dead, merely… slow to shrug off the long-enforced shackles of surface ideology.

Judy was abruptly shaken from her rather somber musings as she rebounded off a soft, fleshy wall that let out an 'Oof!' which the doe echoed, landing on her rump. "Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Not bothering to rise any higher than her knees, Judy began hastily gathering up the foodstuffs which had rolled from the other mammal's bag. "I should have been watching where I was going, I've just been so scattered today." Picking up the last Danish, Judy furtively brushed it off before sheepishly handing it over to the other mammal, getting a look at her accidental victim for the first time. "Lola!?"

"Hmm?" The lynx's gaze briefly skipped up to meet that of her employer before dropping back as she continued to return her groceries to her bag. "Oh, hello Miss Hopps. How's the case?"

A bit thrown off by the other mammal's surprisingly cool tone, Judy shrugged it off – anyone had a right to be a bit put off upon having their food dumped on the ground because of another mammal's absent-mindedness, be they friend and co-worker or not. "Oh, it's going just…!" Judy's stock cheerful response trailed off as she thought about the state of the case and those involved in it. Half of the initial suspects had been ruled out, and she had a strong inkling as to who the culprit was, but with the rift between her and Nick, her friends hospitalized, institutionalized, or just vanished, and a portion of the resort closed for the foreseeable future… "Fine." True, most of that hadn't been because of her or her involvement in the case whatsoever, but it still stung to remember. "Just as well as could be expected, given the circumstances." The doe gave a smile that even she knew looked rather grim. "We should have it all wrapped up in the next couple of days or so." Looking down briefly at her paws clasped before her, Judy frowned, considering who she was talking to, eyes quickly darting back up to meet the light-blue ones of her secretary. "How have you been? I should've checked up on you and the office sooner."

It was subtle, but Judy noticed the lynx's fur bristle slightly at the question. "I'm _fine_ , thanks. Haven't burned down the office, so don't worry about that." Shimmying the bag to the nook of her elbow, Lola began counting off on her fingers. "Office has been tidied, payments… _collected_ , paperwork's been finished and filed, had a look through your old case files, and new clients have been turned away with 'our apologies, but both of our detectives are currently busy on another case!'"

Judy stifled a laugh the lynx's faux peppy cheer face she put on at the end. "Well, it certainly sounds like you've been keeping busy!"

The silence that followed dragged well into the point where it could be considered uncomfortable. Judy was almost at the point of excusing herself when Lola broke the quiet once more. "What happened to your arm?"

Glancing down, Judy noticed that the way her arms were positioned, the bare patch where she'd been injected was on display to the whole world. Self-consciously turning her arm inwards, Judy smiled sheepishly as the lynx raised an eyebrow at the maneuver. "I finally joined the masses. Just spliced for the first time." Fighting the urge to shrink under the feline's unwavering gaze, the doe shrugged. "I figured it would help with the job."

A notable beat of silence fell before the lynx responded. "I see." Pointedly looking at the wall-mounted clock over the bathysphere station, Lola curtly nodded to her employer. "Well, it was unexpected running into you, but I really must be on my way."

"Yea- sure! Sure thing. Good seeing you!" By the time her words were in the air, though, Judy found herself talking at the retreating back of the feline. Turning to glance at the timepiece as well, Judy's eyes widened. "Oh, shoot!"

This time, the doe was much more conscientious of her surroundings as she bounded down Zootopia's grand halls.

* * *

Returning to the Morpheus in record time, Judy found the resort's lobby to be mostly empty – not surprising, considering it was at a time of day where most mammals would either be at work or out for lunch, and seeing the state of the resorts restaurant… Fortunately, the lack of patrons allowed the doe almost instant access to the elevator. Tapping her foot idly in time with the elevator music, Judy took the time to once again run through the list of suspects she'd received from Mr. Litsen… Rister… Whatever the security wolf's name had been.

 _Let's see… Otto Kringelein, Elizabeth Concol, Herman Preysing, Anton Neer, Lord Arnway, 'Baron Barrelsmith', Inspector Carmelita, and Constable Neyla. Nick's fairly certain that we can rule out Otto and Anton, and his reasoning's sound, and both Herman and Elizabeth would have been too large to fit through the vents. The fur I found in the vents_ had _to have come from our suspect, but all I saw of it was that it had two distinct colours to it- that could be Carmelita, Neyla, Sly, OR Connor._ Disregarding the tempo of the music, Judy's foot beat faster as she frowned at the closed doors of the elevator. _Connor's a noble, so wouldn't need the money… That, and he's running charity's in the Warrens. Unless he opened orphanages as well, I doubt he could be any less likely to be the type to resort to thievery._ Fortunately, the quality of materials used in the construction of the Morpheus was on par with everything else in Hermes' Heights; had it been any less durable, the floor likely would have cracked under the thumping of Judy's foot as her train of thought continued. _My gut instinct still says it's Sly, but_ both _Carmelita and Neyla apparently have motive, fit the build needed to go through the vents, and as of yet don't have an alibi._

The grinding of Judy's teeth was so loud that the antelope getting on the lift turned to stare at the doe as she got off. So lost in thought had she been, it wasn't until Judy idly glanced at one of the passing door's number that she realized she'd gotten off on the wrong floor. "Aw, cheese and crackers!"Spinning on her heel, she couldn't help stamping her foot in frustration as the doors slid closed.

"Is everything alright, Miss… Hopps, wasn't it?" The unexpected, suave voice behind her sent Judy spinning again. Spotting the 'Baron,' Judy frowned, initially distrusting concerned façade, then in confusion as she caught sight of the room number on the door as it slowly swung closed behind him. _Cooper's room number's 314 – 'easy as pie.' What's he doing in number 325?_

Returning her attention to the raccoon, Judy gave her best sickly grin as she held a paw up to her temple. "Yes, I'm just… I'm feeling a bit –" And then Judy took a step out of her body. It was strange, Judy could still feel her body behind her as it collapsed lifelessly in the hall, but she ignored the sensation as her 'Scout' slipped past the startled raccoon. She heard 'Barrowsmith' cry out her name, but the noise in the hallway was promptly muffled as the door shut behind Judy.

The room within was much larger and nicer than Judy's – not surprising, the doe supposed, seeing as she was staying in staff quarters. A quick glance about the main room showed nothing out of the ordinary – books still all on the shelves, cushions undisturbed on the seats, television, radio, and paintings still in place… No sign that the room had been ransacked or robbed.

Judy's attention was drawn by a voice emanating from one of the side rooms. Fortunately, the door was open enough for the ethereal doe to slip through into what turned out to be the bedroom beyond.

"Where is it?" The elderly schnauzer within slurred, stumbling slightly as he got up from checking underneath his bed. Judy silently watched as the canine frowned, patting his pockets before shaking his head. _Is he ever sober?_ The doe wondered as Kringelein staggered over to the bedside table, rifling the drawers. _What are you looking for?_

As the inebriated guest's searches dragged on, Judy began worrying that her ghostly investigations might turn up nothing before the plasmid's power returned her to her body, but the doe breathed an inaudible thanks to Serendipity when Kringelein finally revealed what he'd been searching for. "My pocketbook, where's my pocketbook? It's got all my money! My winnings, my savings!" The canine slumped down on to his bed, mustache quivering. "It's got my burial insurance."

Judy felt a pang of sadness at Kringelein's plight, but it was quickly pushed away by a righteous indignation, strengthening her resolve. _That raccoon's going to pay!_

Having her consciousness snap back to her body was no easier the second time than it was the first, no matter the fact that she initiated it this time. Judy's body bucked forward with a gasping breath, the doe absently noting that 'Lord Barrowsmith' had been kneeling over her, only just getting out of the way as Judy's body surged back to life. Also, his jacket was oddly absent, but as she collapsed back to the floor, Judy felt just a touch grateful for the raccoon, as he'd apparently used it to cushion her 'unconscious' head.

"Miss Hopps!" The raccoon did an excellent job of looking relieved while still a touch concerned, Judy had to give him that much. Turning his attention from the downed doe, 'Barrowsmith' called down the hallway, "Carmelita, she's conscious!"

Turning her head away from the raccoon, Judy saw a familiar vixen's sprint come to an abrupt halt before turning back to the pair in the middle of the hallway. Judy's keen ears picked up the Inspector muttering a quick 'Oh, thank goodness,' but Judy had already turned her attention back to the raccoon watching over her. Giving him an inconspicuous once-over, Judy frowned - with the cut of his clothes, it was readily apparent that he didn't have any pocketbook on his person. _But that doesn't mean he didn't taken it…_

"I'm… what? What happened?" Blinking rapidly and holding a paw to her head, Judy mentally thanked all of her old drama teachers as she 'struggled' to sit up, brushing off the raccoon's paws as he tried to keep her laying down.

"I don't think you should be moving…" Having several attempts of his to keep the doe down thwarted by her persistence, 'Barrowsmith' gave up with a huff. "On your own head be it…" Shaking his own with a chuckle, he sat back on his heels. "As to what happened, I couldn't really tell you, I'm afraid. I came out into the hallway to find you standing here, looking rather disoriented, before dropping unconscious. When I couldn't wake you, I was about to go for help, but fortunately for us, Miss Montoya happened along, and offered her services instead."

The fox in question had returned, not even slightly out of breath from her short sprints. "Miss Hopps! Are you alright?"

"Yes, just a bit… light headed…" Mind racing, Judy latched onto the first plausible excuse she could think of as she pushed herself to her feet. "With all the excitement since yesterday, I don't think I've had more to eat than a piece of toast in the last two days!" A bold faced lie – at the Plasmid center, the nurses had seemed willing to tie their patients down to their chairs to ensure they had at least _something_ to eat and drink, as though there platters of sweets weren't tempting enough, and Judy took pride in ensuring she always had at a bare minimum two square meals each day, no matter the circumstances. Fortunately, the story was plausible enough that her two 'caretakers' seemed to buy it. "Thank you for your help, but I think I should be fine… Oops!"

After successfully regaining her feet, Judy had picked up 'Barrowsmith's' jacket, furtively patting at the pockets. Finding one with an odd bulge, she'd 'accidentally' upended it as she handed the article back to it's owner, spilling the pocketbook onto the floor. Judy's heart skipped a beat at the sight of it, but she forced herself to not leap to arresting the raccoon immediately. _It might be his, after all…_

"Sorry," Judy continued, kneeling down, "Let me get that for you!" Ignoring the raccoon's protests as she grabbed the front cover of the pocketbook, Judy suppressed a smirk as the cover dropped open. _Oops_. Peering inside, all pretenses of her clumsiness and illness faded as she saw the card inside the cover. "Property of Otto Kringelein?"

"I can explain!"

"I'm sure you can." Glaring at the cornered raccoon, Judy felt a bubble of satisfaction rise in her chest as the commotion in the hallway had other mammals roomed on the floor poking their heads out of their rooms. _Always loved a captive audience!_ "Sly Cooper," she intoned as she pulled out her set of pawcuffs, "You're under arrest for _so_ many counts of theft!"

"What?" Carmelita breathed, while Sly stared in shock at the pawcuffs.

"Where did you even pull those _from_?"

Ignoring the raccoon, Judy chose to answer Carmelita's question. "He's no Baron, he's not even a Barrelsmith! He's Sly Cooper, and he's nothing more than a hotel thief."

Several things happened at once.

Carmelita let out a disappointed sigh.

Sly gave Judy a look of confusion, denial, regret, and resignation.

From down the hall, the great brown bear Preysing bellowed incredulously, "It was _you?!_ "

Time sped up as chaos followed. Sly turned to Carmelita with a look of bemused sadness. "We'll have to have that dance at a later date, I suppose," he said, before ducking in to peck the confused Inspector on the cheek. The vixen's expression turned from confused, to shocked, to angered, as her paw crackled with electricity. A loud cracking sound exploded down the hallway as the raccoon disappeared into a puff of blue confetti, but Judy hardly noticed the thief's disappearance as her world was overtaken by pain. The last thing she heard before she fainted was a nearby door opening, and a slurring voice calling out.

"Has anyone seen the Baron? I forgot I asked him to look after my pocketbook for me!"

* * *

For the second time in as many days, Judy had found herself walking out of the hospital, alone. On top of the cane she'd been prescribed during her last visit, the doe now also had to have one of her arms immobilized in a sling for the next while.

Using her 'keen detective skills' that were otherwise known as 'asking people', she'd found out what had occurred in the hallway after she'd blacked out from pain. Preysing had been another victim of the hotel thief, and upon hearing Judy's proclamation that Sly was said thief, decided to take a furious justice into his own paws. Despite the fact that firearms were illegal in Zootopia, the ursine contractor had managed to get his paws on one, and shot at the alleged thief, just as said raccoon had Teleported away. The bullet had passed through the space where Sly was, and instead struck Judy. Carmelita had been quick to turn her anger onto the bear, incapacitating him with a jolt of Electrobolt.

It wasn't the violent aftermath of her announcement that disturbed Judy the most, nor the fact that her prime suspect had quite literally disappeared into thin air. What hurt her the most was the fact that she had been wrong. Sly _hadn't_ stolen the schnauzer's wallet, he'd been given it to look after, and had had a reliable alibi during the time that Preysing was robbed. On top of that, hotel security had gone through his room with a fine-toothed comb, and come up with nothing. Given his quick exit, the raccoon wouldn't have had time to return to his room, so that led credence to the fact that the hotel thief _wasn't_ the raccoon. On top of everything else, her very public attempt to arrest Sly, and the reasons for _why_ she was doing it, had led to the fact that there was a thief loose in the hotel _very_ public knowledge, and now guests and staff alike were pointing fingers at pretty much anyone who moved. Ritsenhowler had made it exceedingly well known how disappointed he was with just how much she'd bungled the case – upon returning to the Morpheus, the security chief had apprehended her in the middle of the lobby, yelling at the doe as she struggled not to break down and cry right there and then. He'd seemed surprised by her reaction initially, but had quickly hardened back up, reaming into her and demanding she vacate the hotel before the end of the day.

Judy found herself wandering the hotel's halls in an absent daze – her room had had very few of her possessions to clear out, and with Nick still conspicuously absent, the doe had little reason to stick around there for long. _I should go,_ she thought to herself several times, but there was something… She was supposed to… she just couldn't… _How did it all go so wrong?_ She just couldn't figure it out. Again, she found herself running through the initial list of suspects, even though she was now, _very_ publicly, off the case. Preysing had been a victim of the thief, and was _far_ too large to fit through the vents, as was Miss Concol. Sly was apparently _not_ the thief, and neither could Kringelein or Neer be. Neyla was still locked up in the hospital, and Judy had seen Arnway there as well, even ignoring the fact that the noble had no apparent motive. That only left Carmelita, but for the life of her, Judy couldn't imagine the inspector being behind all these crimes. And the band…! …the band… _Maybe I forgot something in the band room?_

Her entire trip back to the main floor and through the hobby left the doe surrounded by a bubble of uncomfortable silence. Conversations cut off mid-sentence as mammals, both staff and guests alike, caught sight of the doe who'd turned their luxurious lives on their heads. It was at times like these that Judy cursed her gifted hearing capabilities; no matter how hushed the whispers, she could easily make out the hateful remarks, the comments of 'what's _she_ doing here', 'the nerve of her, showing her face!', and more commonly, 'what did they expect, hiring some dumb bunny?'

Judy couldn't even muster her usual ire at the last one.

The silence that the doe stepped into upon entering the staff quarters was initially more comforting – rather than a silence made noticeable by the sudden void where a sound used to be, the silence the doe found herself in now was one more natural, a silence made by a lack of life to make noise. As she worked her way through the twisting corridors, though, the initial comfort of the new silence faded, replaced by the heavy weight of the knowledge of _why_ this silence was here. With the restaurant reduced to little more than kindling and the kitchen a torched ruin, these quarters had no need to be filled – no room for guests meant no guests. No guests meant no food service to the dining room. No kitchen meant no room service. No room service meant no staff running out meals and returning with plates. _How many of the staff had to be laid off?_ Despite the knowledge that they'd likely be hired back on as soon as the services were restored, a pang of empathy ran through the doe, having known intimately the oppressive weight of worry for the next paycheck, the wondering if there'd be enough money for the next meal, having to resort to working for conniving little weasels like Alex…

The thought that there were even mammals _like_ Alex, so quick to make a profit off the misfortune of others and turn places like the Warren into their own little playground, normally would have had the young doe seething, but Judy found herself incapable of anger, not after her outburst at what turned out to be an innocent raccoon barely a couple of hours earlier.

A despondent sigh found its way past Judy's lips as the door to the band room clicked closed behind her. In her mind, she knew that it had barely been a day since the room had last been used, but it already felt deserted, like it had been years since the band had been reunited here, happy and whole again.

Judy frowned, memories filled with laughter and joy jarring to a halt. Those times hadn't happened like that – even from the beginning, there had been tension amongst the band members. Not just Cam and whatever issues he had been dealing with… Actively remembering the past, rather than letting it passively tell her all had been well, Judy could recall all the little things that had been… _off_. How Mac's eyes had been bloodshot, he'd had difficulty focussing on matters at hand, how Matt had been quiet, even more so than normal, and despondently listless, how Leo had had bags under his eyes, and his fur, starting to go thin from incessantly running his paws through it… Things in the Warren hadn't been better, not by a long shot, but in some ways, they _had_ been. Gritting her teeth, Judy supressed the growl that was growing in her chest. Why did nothing in Zootopia make sense? Why was everything going wrong? Why couldn't she _do_ anything about it?!

A sharp pain brought Judy out of her musings. Staring down at her trembling, pulsing fist, the doe frowned, unconscious of forming it, or smashing the now aching appendage against the wall. Shaking her head with another sigh, she focussed on unfurling her paw, and breathing. In, _one… two… three…_ Out, _one… two… three…_

After several repetitions, Judy felt her bubbling anger simmer back down, leaving a hollowness where, as though the doe was detached from the world, an observer of an uninteresting landscape. Quickly retrieving her dropped cane, Judy glanced about the room, and saw what she'd already known would be the case – nothing of hers had been left here. It was just like the Morpheus, just like Zootopia… "There's nothing left for me here."

 _Except…_ glancing to the side, a hint of a smile formed on Judy's face. Crossing the room, she went out the only other exit, setting foot on the stage once more.

The setting seemed right for her, fitting the doe like it had been built just for her. She could still see the beauty in the room, in the architecture, in the furnishings, in the memories that she held of the space, but like her hopes for her life Zootopia the beauty had faded. The walls and ceiling around the kitchen door were coated in soot, much of the furniture and glassware had been smashed in the chaotic panic, leaving shards and splinters intermingled with still-thick blood stains. In the rush of the moment, nothing had been cleaned or cleared away, as evidenced by the half-eaten meals, discarded jackets… even the instruments were still in their places, excepting the piano, with their owner's hospital-bound or… elsewhere.

And oddly enough, she wasn't alone.

"How delightful, I have a guest." Sitting at one of the few intact tables, Carmelita sat, a left-over tart perched in her fingers. Taking a bite from it, the vixen looked as at ease as though the events of the past day had never transpired.

"Carmelita!" Judy hadn't been expecting to find anyone else here, but she wasn't about to turn away the company – a friendly face was just what the young doe felt like she needed at the moment.

Fixing the bunny on stage with a glare palpable from across the room, the inspector tossed the rest of the treat into her mouth. "The only thing is, I've developed a recent distaste to unexpected guests." Turning her attention to her paw, Carmelita licked the leftover juices from her fingers. Task finished, she gaze flickered back to Judy. "Although, I suppose I owe you my thanks."

All Judy could muster was a quiet "Oh?" _Yet another 'friend' turned against you,_ the insidious voice inside her head rose from its slumber, only to be half-heartedly shushed by Judy. _It might not be_ that _bad…_ she supposed, as she leadenly made her way to the stairs at the side of the stage.

The voice only chuckled darkly as the inspector spoke up.

"Why yes!" The vixen spoke with a sickeningly sweet tone, "With all the free time I now find myself with, I can do all the things I never had time for! Savour the delicacies," her paw swept over the ground around her, "appreciate the music," her gaze flickered briefly to the remains of the piano, "enjoy the _fine company._ "

Judy's steps faltered upon hearing the venom in the inspector's voice, but she pressed on, cane clacking as she gradually approached the vixen. "How's any of this," she looked at the room around her, "my fault?"

"Oh, no, this here's just par for the course down here in Zootopia! Haven't you heard? City security's run by some blind _hussy_ who couldn't even tell that her neighbour was the thief she's been pursuing for her _entire career!_ " Gripping the edge of the table, Carmelita pushed back, not even reacting as the chair she had been sitting on toppled. "Thanks to your lovely reveal this afternoon, I'm now the laughing stock of the entire city."

"I'm sure it's not… _that_ bad?"

"No?" Carmelita's expression contorted in anger as she closed the distance between her and the doe. " _No?_ Tell me, which is worse? The thought that I was ignorant of Coopers presence, that I willingly turned a _blind eye_ to his presence, or the fact that when there's a string of robberies where I, the head of security for the city, _live_ , that I'm not even _told_?!"

"I couldn't tell you, you were a suspect!" Once more, Judy wished she had the ability to take back the words that she had just spoken. Contrary to the outburst she expected from the vixen before her, however, Carmelita was eerily calm as she took in the words.

"Of course." Voice as cold and mysterious as the ocean, the fox turned from the rabbit, sighing as she righted her toppled chair. She muttered something in a language that Judy couldn't understand, before switching back. "I can't _wait_ to hear _that_ one when it reaches the streets."

"What was I supposed to do?" Judy's voice grew in volume as the cold void left her, once more filling with righteous anger. "Ignore the facts? Say, 'Oh, it can't be her, because we're friends'?"

Carmelita's tail tore through the air, expressing her anger if there had been any doubt after hearing her voice. "Of course not, I would have expected you to _do your job!_ "

"Which I did!" A spike of fury erupted within Judy as the inspector snorted at her statement. "I was hired to find the thief in the resort, the one who, by your own admission, was hiding under your nose the entire time! I found him, I arrested him!"

"For all the good it did!" Carmelita retorted. "He got away, the resort's in an uproar, and he was the _wrong thief!_ " Clenching her eyes shut, Carmelita gripped the edge of the table as she visibly tried to calm herself down. "I think," she managed to hiss out from between her clenched teeth, "it would be best if you left, Miss Hopps.

"Oh no!" Judy stepped forward. "I did my job! I followed the clues, and did what you were either incapable or unwilling of doing!" Judy took another step, in her anger forgetting about her injured foot. Stumbling, she caught herself on Carmelita's table, and felt like her entire body was covered in fire. Unable to think, unable to breathe, her body reacted instantly, shoving away from the supporting object. Instantly, feeling returned to her body as her muscles unseized, causing the doe to drop to the floor. Looking up, she saw faint sparks across the decorative iron trim of the table. Eyes tracing back to the vixen, she saw the same sparks flickering up and down her arm that held a white-knuckle grip on the tables edge.

Carmelita's eyes cracked open, a barely restrained fury burning within. "Leave me," she hissed.

This time, Judy had no complaints as she hobbled out as quickly as she could.

* * *

 **Actual A/N: Sorry for the delay. Hope the longer than normal chapter makes up for it! In all honesty, it's been a hectic past couple of months - moving, family/friend drama, procrastination... The usual.**

 **Also, I... uh, I may have written my 'Mac' out of a job. Less than a week after posting the last chapter with Zootopia Mac going squirrely and losing his job, real life 'Mac' kinda... went squirrely and quit his job.**

 **Note to self: Stop using real people as inspiration for characters, and then messing with the character's lives. My plasmid-fueled writing powers _may_ have unintentional real-life side effects.**

 **Also, should my writing plan go as, well, planned, the next chapter should reveal who the hotel thief is. Any of you guys/gals figured it out? I've tried to supply all the necessary clues to do so!**


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